When Did You Stop Loving Me
by LindsParker22
Summary: Emily returns home after years of avoiding her hometown where she left behind who she thought at the time was the love of her life. Paige quickly grows frustrated when Emily brings along with her an unexpected guest. The two struggle to be back in each others life as they try to figure out what exactly went so wrong between them and what they mean to each other now.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! So this is the second Paily story I've written (this story has no relation to my previous one) and I really hope that anybody still reading Paily fanfiction enjoys it. The updates might become a little sporadic but I have a few chapters already written so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with a reasonable schedule. This story most likely wont be nearly as long as my last one but I am looking to create a good story and finish it. Anyways I hope you enjoy :) feel free to leave any kind of feedback, good or bad, I always like hearing from you guys!**

Emily stood up out of her seat stepping out into the aisle way opening the overhead compartment and pulling her carry-on bag out. Eventually shuffling her way further down the aisle following the other people exiting the plane. Emily felt the nerves starting to creep up on her as she got closer to the front of the plane knowing what she was going to have to face on her trip out here to visit her family.

She had purposefully been avoiding coming home during the summer for the last couple of years, well aware of what it brought on for her. She hated the memories it brought back along with the emotions. As well as who it brought back to her home.

Emily had been so lost in her thoughts that she was startled when someone grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers with hers, "I think we're supposed to be going this way Em." Katie said absentmindedly as she looked around at the signs in the airport.

"Right sorry." She responded taking a deep breath trying to calm herself down as Katie guided her through the airport over to baggage claim.

Emily had known Katie for years now, having met her just a few weeks after she had moved out to California. And while Katie showed interest in a relationship from the start it took Emily a while to warm up to the idea of being with someone else having just gotten out of a relationship at the time of her move.

Katie however was consistent and didn't take no for an answer, so after some time she gave in and went on a date with her. Which led to another soon after. And eventually ended up in her being Emily's girlfriend. They had been together for just over a year now and while Emily did love the girl in her life she was terrified to introduce her to her family for more than one reason.

She wasn't so much worried about Katie meeting her parents, she was a nice girl with a promising future ahead of her and Emily knew her parents would approve instantly. However what Emily was worried about was her ex and her families love for that ex.

Her ex was a part of the family now and always had been so she had cemented good relationships amongst all of her family members. Emily was worried about her girlfriend's reaction to how involved not only she but her entire family was when it came to her ex and was worried that Katie would let jealousy get the best of her and the summer would end in a breakup.

As they stood waiting for their bags to come Emily knew she should probably let Katie in on the piece of information she had purposefully left out. Emily sighed before looking over at her girlfriend whose eyes were focused on the luggage passing them, waiting patiently for theirs to show up, not wanting to miss it, "Hey Katie?" Emily mumbled out.

"Hmm." Katie responded in a hum, her eyes never leaving the bags in front of her.

"I may umm…I may have left out a tiny detail about this trip." Emily confessed hesitantly.

"Yeah, what's that?" Katie asked as she swiftly pulled a couple of bags out of the line of luggage and set them on the floor in front of Emily and herself.

"My ex is going to be here too this summer. That's actually why I didn't think it was the best time for you to meet my parents." Emily said trying to read the expression on her girlfriends face as she finally looked over at her.

"Your ex is going to be spending the summer with your family?" Katie asked raising an eyebrow at Emily questioningly.

Emily simply nodded with a sigh, not adding anything else.

"Is there a reason why anyone would want to do that?" Katie asked clearly not understanding why someone's ex would be invited to spend the summer with the family, or even why Emily's ex would want to spend the summer with them.

"Well she kind of comes back every summer." Emily informed her girlfriend, "Her and her family have been coming down here every summer since we were about 10 and she's been staying with my family permanently since she was 16."

Katie shrugged, "oh so she's like a family friend then."

"Try more like, just family." Emily said as she rolled her eyes, "I'm convinced my parents like her more than me sometimes." She huffed jokingly as she threw one of her bags over her shoulder and grabbed the handle of the other dragging it behind her as her and Katie made their way to the front of the airport where her dad was supposed to be picking them up.

"It's not going to be a problem that I came right, I mean you asked if it was okay that I came with you?" Katie asked as Emily kept her eyes facing forward not looking at Katie as she continued walking, "Emily?" Katie asked suddenly worried.

Emily cringed slightly as she looked over at Katie, "It was a last minute thing, and I didn't think you were going to be able to come so I didn't say anything but I'm sure it'll be fine. My mom's one of those 'the more the merrier' kind of people." Emily said waving off the issue as she tried to assure her girlfriend that it was fine.

Katie sighed, "Well this should be interesting."

"I promise it's going to be fine okay." Emily said as she intertwined their hands, although she might not have completely believed it herself she felt like it was best to keep telling not only Katie but herself that everything was going to go smoothly.

Katie looked over at Emily, "Are you sure, I know this is kind of a big deal and I don't want to ambush your parents, it doesn't sound like the best first impression to make."

Emily let out a small giggle, "You're not ambushing anyone okay, everyone's going to love you. It'll be fine." Emily leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her girlfriend's lips before pulling away and smiling at her, "Ready?"

Katie nodded with a small smile. Emily took a deep breath as she spotted her dad standing towards the doors of the airport, "Everything's going to be fine Emily. Everything is going to go smoothly." She mumbled to herself in attempt to calm her nerves quiet enough that Katie couldn't hear her.

Emily hadn't actually planned for Katie to be tagging along for the summer trip to her parents' home but she had invited her girlfriend for the sake of being nice, knowing that Katie wouldn't be able to come due to a summer internship she had been planning. However at the last minute the internship had been moved making Katie's plans free and she had immediately agreed to come along with Emily.

"Hey dad." Emily said as she let go of Katie's hand and dropped her bags at her feet, walking into her dad's open arms. As Katie stood awkwardly off to the side.

"Oh Emmy I missed you." Wayne said as he tightened his grip on Emily, who let out a small giggle into his chest, "I missed you too dad." She admitted as she pulled away slightly smiling up at him.

She noticed his eyes flicker over her shoulder to the blonde girl standing off to the side awkwardly watching them, "Oh umm dad this is Katie." Emily said as she reached over and grabbed Katie's wrist pulling her closer to them, "My girlfriend."

"Hello Mr. Fields, it's nice to meet you." Katie stated politely as she reached her hand out towards the man standing in front of her.

Wayne looked hesitantly at Emily before smiling and taking the hand shaking it softly, "Welcome Katie, it's nice to meet you as well." He said genuinely which calmed Katie's nerves slightly, "Well should we get going, your mother has already got dinner going."

"Of course she does." Emily laughed as she nodded her head and picked up her bag.

"Oh no here Emmy let me grab those." Wayne insisted, stopping Emily before she could even get the bag over her shoulder. Emily smiled at her dad thanking him as he grabbed the bag and dragged the other behind him as they walked over to the car.

It was about a forty-five minute drive back to the Field's home from the airport which was for the most part filled with a mostly comfortable silence and a little bit of small talk, mostly between Emily and her father. They pulled up to the Field's home rather quickly and her dad stepped out of the driver's seat of the car, "We can come get your bags later. We'll send your brother out to get them." Emily nodded as she walked around the back of the car to meet Katie who was still standing by the side of the car.

Katie grabbed Emily's hand and intertwined their fingers smiling at Emily with a clearly nervous look plastered on her face. Emily shot her back a reassuring smile before she followed behind her dad walking to the front door of the house, pulling her girlfriend along with her.

Wayne opened the front door which never seemed to be locked and entered the house hesitantly, "Pam? Honey we're back." He called out as he stepped aside letting the two girls walk in shutting the front door behind them. "Don't worry she's not here right now." He whispered to Emily as he walked by her, catching the slight fear on her face as her eyes darted around the room when they first walked in.

Emily let out a small sigh of relief, happy that she didn't have to deal with her ex right away. It didn't take long before her mom appeared in the room and pulled Emily into a tight hug, "Oh honey I've been waiting for you." The older woman said as she pulled out of the hug, her hands still resting on Emily's arms as her eyes drifted over to the girl standing next to them, "And who is this?" She asked sweetly as she released Emily.

Emily smiled at her mom, "This is Katie, my girlfriend." She stated as confidently as she could, doing her best not to sound nervous.

"Hello Mrs. Fields it's nice to meet you." She said politely once again to Emily's mother as she outstretched her hand towards the older woman who graciously accepted.

"It's nice to meet you Katie, please call me Pam." She replied with a sincere smile.

"Sorry I didn't tell you I was bringing her, it was kind of a last minute thing." Emily explained to her mom, thankful that both of her parents seemed to be taking the news better than she had expected.

Pam instantly waved her hand in the air as if to say to forget about it, "Oh stop, it's no trouble at all Emily, the more the merrier."

Emily quickly shot her girlfriend an 'I told you so' look which caused Katie to giggle before she turned her eyes back to Pam, "I really appreciate you letting me join your family for the next few weeks."

"Like I said, it's no trouble at all dear. Make yourself at home." Pam said with a smile.

"Where's Derek?" Emily asked noticing that he had never come over to greet them.

"He ran out to get some wood, he should get back soon." Pam stated as she moved back into the kitchen where she was still working on dinner. Emily and Katie followed behind her, both sitting at the table as Pam continued on with the meal.

"Really? Dad usually has wood stocked up in the backyard all summer." Emily stated.

Pam simply nodded as she faced the girls, "Yeah well your brother and Paige decided to have their own little bonfire last night that wasn't so little. Nearly burnt the house down those two." She laughed as she shook her head, "They should be back any minute now, they've been gone for a while. You know those two though, you send them out for wood and they get caught up in who knows what." Pam informed her.

Emily nodded, thinking that maybe it was best that everyone wasn't here to bombard Katie as soon as they had arrived. Just as Emily turned to Katie to talk there was a loud noise coming from the front of the house as someone barged through the front door. Emily's stomach turned at the clear sound of her ex's laughter mixed in with her brother's.

The two came running into the room panting, clearly up to something other than getting wood. Emily's brother Derek instantly jumped up on the counter next to Pam and tried to pick something out of one of the pan before Pam swatted his hands away. Paige simply laughed at the rejection grabbing two waters out of the fridge, tossing one to Derek before she leaned against the counter, both clearly oblivious to Emily and Katie's presence.

"Did you two even bring back wood?" Pam asked as she eyed the two people who had just come in, curious as to why they were so out of breath.

"Yeah it's on the porch. We raced back though because this one didn't think I could beat her." Derek said.

"Which he didn't, but that's okay little buddy." Paige said, teasing the younger boy who rolled his eyes before he stopped and a smile came across his face causing Paige to finally look behind her to see what Derek was looking at.

"Hey big sis!" Derek called out excitedly finally noticing Emily sitting over at the table. He jumped down off the counter and quickly made his way over to her pulling her up out of her chair and into a hug.

"Derek we can save the hugging for when you're not soaked in sweat." Emily grumbled with a smile as she tried to pull out of her brother's hold, "Please." She pleaded and he finally let her go, smiling down at her.

"Sorry this one can never just take it easy on me." He said gesturing to Paige with his head.

For the first time Emily shifted her gaze to Paige whose eyes weren't on hers but instead on the girl still sitting at the table, "Yeah well that doesn't surprise me." Emily said softly to her brother not letting her gaze drift away from Paige whose smile was long gone by now.

She knew this was a terrible idea.

It was the first time she had seen Paige in a couple of years and it surprised her how fast everything came rushing back to her. She couldn't help but let her eyes drift down the body she once knew so well, taking in the girl's appearance which looked better than she even remembered.

Emily quickly shook her head not wanting to let those thoughts creep into her head, clearing her throat before things could get anymore awkward. Emily looked over at Katie, "Umm this is my girlfriend Katie." She announced as the other girl stood up and reached her hand out to Derek who smiled politely and shook her hand.

"Hey Katie, nice to meet you, I'm Derek the handsome brother, you've probably heard a ton about me." He said with a charming smile before pulling his hand away and quickly sneaking a glance at Paige.

"Oh and um this is Paige." Emily mumbled out, the name tasting weird on her lips from not speaking it in so long. She gestured to the girl leaning against the counter, keeping her eyes glued to the floor not able to look up at Paige this time.

Katie smiled taking a step towards the girl and stuck her hand out which Paige shook confidently, "Hey nice to meet you. I'm the handsome stray that the Fields ever so kindly take in every year and you've probably heard absolutely nothing about me." Paige said teasingly as Derek laughed.

"You know what they say, if you feed a stray once they never leave." Derek added with a shrug and a smirk on his face which earned him a smack in the chest from Paige.

"Alright you two stop it." Pam warned in a teasing tone, "Derek why don't you go grab your sisters and Katie's bags from the car before you shower and put them up in her room."

Derek nodded and quickly made his way from the kitchen, "Alright well I'm going to hit the shower before dinner." Paige announced to no one in particular as she quickly left the room and headed upstairs, not wanting to be stuck down stairs with Emily and her apparently new girlfriend that she hadn't known existed until moments ago.

Emily sat down at the table with a sigh, "Well I think that went pretty good." Katie said as she placed her hand over Emily's, "I'm guessing that's the ex."

Emily nodded her head with a small sigh, "Yeah, this isn't too weird for you right, I mean I know it's not the ideal situation."

"It's fine Em I promise. She seemed to be fine with me being here as did everyone else, so I think it'll be alright." Katie said with a smile which Emily returned with a nod.

But Emily knew that it hadn't really gone that well. She knew it hadn't as soon as she saw Derek's hesitance when Emily announced who Katie was. And by the worried glance her mother had shot towards Paige while Derek was introducing himself to Katie, although she had tried to be discrete about it. The way Paige's face paled as soon as her eyes landed on Katie, no introduction needed.

It wasn't fine.

"I'm going to go help Derek with our stuff okay? Why don't you stay here and you and my mom can get to know each other." Emily suggested with a smile as she stood up. Emily let out a small giggle at the panicked look on Katie's face, "You'll be fine." She said as she placed a quick kiss on her cheek and turned to head out to the car.

When she got to the car Derek had already pulled all of the bags out and was leaning against the car clearly waiting for Emily.

"Are you crazy?" He asked seriously before Emily even reached him at the car.

"What are you talking about?" She grumbled casually as she grabbed her bag and flung it over her shoulder.

Derek let out a dry laugh of disbelief, "Oh man this is going to be some sort of train wreck isn't it."

Emily gestured for her little brother to grab some of the bags and help her as she started walking back to the front door, "It's going to be fine Derek would you relax." Emily said annoyed.

"Yep keep telling yourself that Em." Derek said as he followed his sister into the house and up the stairs, Emily opened her bedroom door and tossed the bags down by the foot of the bed, Derek doing the same.

Emily glanced around her room and walked over to the bedside table lifting a framed picture up off of it, not bothering to look at it as she walked over to her dresser pulling the top drawer open and shoving it face down into the back of the drawer.

It was a picture of her and Paige and she needed to get it out of sight considering Katie would be staying in here with her. Emily walked around the room grabbing things that had any connection to Paige and shoved them into drawers wherever they would fit. When she was finished she smiled softly, "There, perfect."

Derek rolled his eyes at his sisters attempt to rid her room of her ex as he watched leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom, "Perfect. So what are you going to do with Paige? You can shove pictures into drawers but the real life Paige is right down the hall." He stated gesturing in the direction of Paige's room.

"Shut up Derek okay." Emily exclaimed becoming annoyed with her younger sibling, "What do you want me to do?! We broke up and I moved on. Just because you guys keep her around like she's a part of our family doesn't mean I'm going to stop living my life. This is my family and I'm not here to make her feel comfortable so let it go." Emily snapped.

Derek looked at her in disbelief as he shook his head pushing his body off the doorframe, "She is a part of the family and she's always going to be. You of all people should understand that." He said before he turned and walked down the hallway towards his own room clearly upset.

Emily sighed as she glanced around the room once more. She knew this was a terrible idea. She'd been home for less than an hour and she already was about as miserable as she imagines she could possibly get. Seeing Paige again was already bringing back up things that she had fought to push away for years and she didn't like it. She let out a frustrated groan knowing one thing for sure. It was going to be a long few weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey everyone, just wanted to say thank you for all the positive feedback I received about this story! I'm so glad to hear most of you enjoyed it! Again feel free to let me know what you thought of the chapter, it's always fun hearing your thoughts :) Also if you have any suggestions or anything feel free to let me know, I want to make the story as enjoyable as possible for everyone. This chapter is picking up right where we left off on the last chapter so hope you enjoy!**

Derek made his way down the hall towards his bedroom to grab a fresh pair of clothes so he could shower once Paige got out. He didn't have to wait too long before there was a light knock on his door and Paige poked her head inside the room, "It's all yours." She said before moving to leave.

"Hey Paige?" Derek called out stopping the woman from leaving. Paige turned back around humming a response waiting for Derek to say whatever he was going to. "Are you okay?" He asked shooting the older girl a concerned look.

"Yeah I'm fine." She said with a shrug, "It's a little weird but don't worry about me." She said giving him the best smile she could muster up at the moment.

Derek nodded with a small smile not wanting to push Paige, knowing that she wasn't expecting Emily to bring anyone home and that she was going to do her best to act fine as usual no matter what he said.

"Hurry down though okay. I don't know how long I can be in a room alone with the people I got right now." She teased referring to being trapped in a room with Emily and her new girlfriend.

"Aww poor little Paigey." Derek whined mocking her as he got up to leave his bedroom and go to the bathroom earning a shove to the shoulder from Paige as they laughed.

"Don't be a jerk." Paige said as Derek went into the bathroom, appreciating him not pushing the issue and instead acting normal for her. It was something she desperately needed. She took a deep breath, trying to relax as she made her way down the stairs.

When Paige got to the bottom of the stairs she saw Emily and Katie sitting on the coach together watching tv and she sped up her walk, sneaking into the kitchen trying to go unnoticed by the two girls.

"Hey honey everything okay?" Pam asked when Paige walked in.

"Yeah I'm fine." Paige said unconvincingly as she poured herself some juice and sat down at the kitchen table.

Pam walked over resting her hand on the younger woman's shoulder, "I'm sorry sweetheart. I didn't know she was bringing anyone with her or I would have given you a heads up."

Paige sighed as she turned her gaze towards the woman standing above her, "It's okay, it was bound to happen eventually right? She wasn't going to stay single forever."

"Maybe but that doesn't mean it hurts any less."

"I really wish it did." Paige said in a whine as she let her head fall down onto the table causing Pam to let out a small laugh.

"Here kiddo this will help." Paige lifted her head to find Wayne hovering over her pouring something into her partially drank cup of juice from a liquor bottle in his hand. Paige smirked and quickly brought the cup to her lips and downed a small amount of the liquid.

"Wayne!" Pam called out disapprovingly, hitting him softly in the chest as she chuckled, "Can you please go get everyone honey dinners done." She added causing Wayne to look back down at Paige mocking panic.

"Oh boy here we go." He said jokingly, pouring more of the liquid into the cup, practically filling it back up to the rim, "That should at least get you through dinner." Paige simply laughed at the gesture from Wayne, loving that he was trying to make her feel a little better, but sitting here knowing it was time for dinner she didn't think she could do it.

"Thank you but I really think you guys should get to know Katie and I'm sure Emily is just going to feel uncomfortable with me here so I think I'm just going to walk down to the diner and grab a bite to eat there." She said as she stood up, "But I'm definitely taking this with me." She stated as she picked her drink up off the table and lifted it to Wayne with a smile on her lips. Wayne let out a laugh as he walked out of the kitchen to gather everyone up for dinner.

"Paige, honey you don't have to go have dinner alone, you're just as much part of this family as any of my children. Please stay." Pam tried even though she knew the girl would insist to give them some alone time with Emily and her new girlfriend.

Paige shook her head, "Really Pam I don't want to cause any trouble, but save me a plate please it smells so good." Paige stated. She had always loved Pam's cooking and was definitely considering sticking around and listening to Emily and Katie talk about their relationship solely for Pam's homemade meal.

Pam let out a light chuckle, "Of course dear." She said before hugging the girl in front of her. She pulled away and watched Paige walk out the back door disappearing from sight just as Wayne walked back into the kitchen, followed by Emily and Katie.

Wayne took his seat in his usual spot just as Pam dropped a plate in front of him. Emily grabbing a plate from the cabinet, Katie following her lead as the two dished their own plates. When they finished they sat down next to each other at the table, Pam following behind them with her own plate and dropping a full plate down on the table where Derek usually sat before sitting down herself.

"Derek!" Pam called out towards the stairs, "Dinner's done."

Emily let her eyes wander around the room for a moment, looking for any sign of Paige. Her mother usually would've fixed a plate for Paige as well but she didn't have time to ask any questions as Derek came jogging into the kitchen and planted himself in his chair.

"Oh I'll go get Paige, she must have not heard you." Derek said as soon as he noticed the brunette wasn't present, but Pam stopped him before he could even get up out of his chair.

"Don't worry honey, she won't be joining us tonight." Pam said.

Wayne cleared his throat drawing attention to himself, "She had a last minute thing come up at work. She had to go in."

Derek scoffed, "She had to go into work? Her hot shot job as a-"

"Derek." Pam chastised quickly, giving him a look that he knew well. One that simply said 'if another word comes out of your mouth you're going to get smacked.'

The youngest Fields put his hands up in defense, "Yeah right, work. Sorry. I just thought she was off?' He said unconvincingly.

Emily didn't need to be told that Paige bailed on dinner. She couldn't blame her though, if the roles were reversed she would've done the same. In fact Emily was relieved that she had, it made this dinner much easier for everyone.

"So Katie tell us, what do you do?" Pam interrupted Emily's thoughts, figuring that the best thing to do was to move the conversation away from Paige.

Katie put on a genuine smile as she answered the question. Emily was relieved at how easy the family had slipped into conversation. It was clear Derek wasn't sold on the idea of Katie but Emily had already expected that. Him and Paige had been close and it seemed that they had only gotten closer over the few years she had been gone. However her parents seemed to be understanding and accepting of Emily's new girlfriend, which was a huge relief.

Dinner went by seamlessly. Emily and Katie excusing themselves shortly after they were through with their meals. They had both been tired from traveling all morning and both just wanted to turn in early for the night. Emily had walked into her bedroom waiting for Katie, who was in the bathroom getting ready for bed.

She hadn't meant to but she found herself immediately drifting towards the drawer that she had shoved the framed photo from her bedside table in earlier. She opened it and carefully lifted the photo out turning it over and looking at the picture. She couldn't help but feel a small ache in her chest as her eyes ran over the picture of her and Paige, the memory of the night coming back to her far to quickly…

 _Emily stopped as she walked out of the house scanning the spacey backyard for her girlfriend. They had been at this party for a couple of hours now and she was definitely well into feeling buzzed at this point. She couldn't help the smile that tugged on the edge of her lips when she saw Paige sitting next to the bonfire. Emily made her way over to Paige quickly gaining the other girl's attention before Emily even made it half way to her. Emily instantly sat down on Paige's lap once she reached her, wrapping one of her arms around her girlfriend's neck as Paige's arms snaked around her waist._

 _"There's my favorite girl." Paige said as she planted a soft kiss on Emily's neck, "I've been looking for you."_

 _"Is that right?" Emily asked with a small smirk as she looked down at her girlfriend._

 _"Mhm." Paige hummed in response as she moved Emily's hair away from her neck and continued to softly kiss her way up the exposed skin._

 _"Someone's drunk." Emily teased with a knowing smile as her eyes closed and she leaned into Paige's touch._

 _"Among other things." Paige said suggestively, smirking against Emily's jaw, "Let's get out of here." Paige whispered tightening her grip on the other girl's waist, tugging Emily closer to her as she nipped at her ear letting her hands wander under the hem of Emily's shirt, "Please."_

 _"My parents are home." Emily stated leaning her head away from Paige forcing the others girl's lips off of her skin and looking at her._

 _"So what?" Paige said pouting at Emily who giggled at her girlfriend's response._

 _"So I'm not having sex with you while my parents are downstairs, we've had this discussion a million times." Emily said leaning down and resting her head against Paige's shoulder as she nuzzled into her._

 _Paige sighed knowing from experience that Emily wasn't going to give in, "I can't wait until we have our own place so we can have sex whenever and wherever we want to." Paige stated softly as she ran her hand up and down Emily's side under her shirt, softly scratching the skin with her short nails._

 _"Our own place huh?" Emily asked a smile creeping onto her face._

 _"Yep." Paige stated confidently with a smile of her own planted across her face, "we'll start off with something small. Cozy." She said as she stared out ahead of her as if she could picture it, "And then once we're out of college and make enough money we can buy ourselves a house and get married. Then we can have a bunch of little babies."_

 _Emily lifted her head off of Paige's shoulder and looked into her eyes surprised that Paige would ever admit to even thinking about these kinds of things and figured that the confession had to have been due to the alcohol running through the other girl's system, "What makes you so sure I would even want to get a place with you, let alone marry you and have a bunch of little babies?" Emily asked mocking Paige, doing her best to keep the conversation light._

 _"A girl can dream can't she?" Paige asked quietly, leaning up and capturing Emily's lips in a soft kiss, "I can't wait to marry you." She mumbled against Emily's lips as she deepened the kiss._

 _Emily slowly broke away from Paige, resting her forehead against the brunette's, "I can't wait to marry you either." Emily whispered truthfully before planting a quick kiss to Paige's lips and pulling herself up off of her lap reaching down for Paige's hand with a sigh, "Come on."_

 _Paige looked up at her girlfriend with raised eyebrows, "Where exactly are we going?"_

 _"I'm sure we could find somewhere where we could get a little more privacy." She said playfully with a wink as she started walking away, "You coming hot shot?" She threw back over her shoulder coyly._

 _Paige got up from her spot quickly catching up to Emily who let out a small squeal as Paige threw her over her shoulder and rushed through the slightly crowded party to find somewhere they could go…._

"Emily?" someone called, pulling Emily out of her thoughts.

Emily moved her gaze up quickly to where the voice had come from, shoving the picture back into the drawer and shutting it forcefully, "What?" She asked as calmly as she could, slightly being caught off guard.

Katie let out a small laugh as she moved towards Emily, "You alright I've been trying to get your attention for a while now, what were you looking at?" She asked gesturing to the drawer as she wrapped her arms around the other girl from behind, resting her chin on the slightly shorter girls shoulder.

"Oh nothing." Emily said turning around in her girlfriend's arms, "Just zoned out a little bit I guess." She said smiling up at the other girl hoping she'd let it go.

Katie looked down at Emily, letting her curiosity get the best of her Katie pulled Emily closer to her reaching her hand out to open the drawer causing Emily to sigh. Katie looked into the drawer grabbing out the framed photo and letting go of Emily so she could get a good look at it, "I forgot I had it in there." Emily lied.

Katie nodded as she walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, her eyes never leaving the old photo, "You know it's okay Em, I know you have exes." Katie said with a soft smile as she looked up at Emily gesturing for her girlfriend to join her on the edge of the bed. "Tell me about it."

Emily eyed the other girl, trying to figure out why she would want to know anything about the photo in her hands, "Why?"

Katie laughed, "Well for starters this is a pretty crappy photo to frame." She said bluntly and Emily would be offended if it wasn't completely true.

It was her favorite photo because of the conversation they had been having when it was taken and the memories that it brought back, not because of the quality of the photo. It was the moment she realized that Paige was the one for her. They may have been young but she could feel it, Paige was it for her. She'd never love anyone like that again. It wasn't possible.

The photo itself was slightly blurry, her sitting comfortably on Paige's lap, the two girls slightly off centered with a sliver of fire being caught on the edge of the photo casting an orange glow on them. To be honest Emily couldn't even remember who had taken it or where she had gotten it from, but she still loved it anyway.

"Also why is there a huge crack in it?" Katie asked running her finger over the crack in the glass frame that ran down from the top left of the frame and branched out throughout the middle of the glass sitting on top of the photo of her and Paige. Emily let out a small laugh as she took the framed photo from her girlfriend's hands.

"I was a little upset when we broke up, that's all." Emily said not really wanting to talk about it as she walked back to the drawer shoving the picture back in, while trying to shake the memory of heartbrokenly chucking the framed photo across her bedroom back when Paige and her had broken up.

"Were you guys serious?" Katie asked now starting to worry a little bit about whether she should be concerned about the girl down the hall or not.

Emily closed her eyes tightly and sighed before turning around to face Katie with a shrug, "Not really." Emily lied not wanting to worry her already worried looking girlfriend.

However Paige had been the most serious relationship she had ever been in. In fact Paige had been the only girl she had ever been with besides Katie. They had begun dating when they were in high school and were still together all through college not leaving much room for Emily to date other women. Emily knew her and Paige were just about as serious as it got but Katie didn't need to know that Emily concluded as she straddled her girlfriend hoping to drop this topic.

"I thought you said no sex while your parents were home?" Katie said teasingly as she raised an eyebrow at Emily who instantly thought of Paige's old whining about the age old rule.

"Still stands but that doesn't mean we can't make out a little." She said capturing Katie's top lip between hers.

Katie quickly complied and leaned her back against the bed as Emily hovered over her, their lips still connected. Emily let Katie's lips move down her jaw and down to her neck as Katie flipped them over softly but Emily couldn't help but let her mind wander to the brunette down the hall.

Being in this house was going to be hard for her, it always was. That's why she had done her best to avoid it in the past. This was where they grew up, where they fell in love and eventually where she ran when they were torn apart and she loved it with everything she had but she also couldn't help but hate it now.

She hated that everything seemed to remind her of her former love. Hated that Paige and herself allowed life to get in between them back then. Hated how she couldn't help but think of the other girl even though she wanted to hate her, to just finally be able to forget about her. But it was Paige and she knew no matter what she did she wouldn't be able to ever forget her, no matter how hard she tried.

Emily pulled away from Katie who groaned in protest as she tightened her grip on Emily's waist, refusing to let her slip out from under her. Emily laughed, "I have to get ready for bed Katie." She stated simply as she pressed a quick kiss to her girlfriends lips and slipped away from her walking over to the door, "I'll be right back."

Emily walked out of her bedroom, closing the door behind her as she walked down the hallway to the only upstairs bathroom. She twisted the doorknob to the bathroom and opened the door walking in, stopping in her tracks when she found Paige on the other side, "Sorry." She mumbled as she stood there staring at the other girl who was brushing her teeth.

"It's fine." Paige mumbled through toothpaste as she continued to move the toothbrush around in her mouth.

"Do you mind if I?" Emily asked awkwardly pointing to her toothbrush sitting by the sink next to Paige.

Paige simply nodded that it was okay as she stepped off to the side a little giving Emily room to brush her teeth by the sink as well.

Paige and Emily stood side by side in the painfully silent bathroom as the tension seemed to grow instantly. Emily sighed as she snuck a glance at Paige who had finished brushing her teeth in record time. Just as Paige was about to leave the bathroom without a word, Emily stopped her, "Wait."

Paige stopped in the doorway turning her head towards Emily, waiting for the other girl to say something. Paige waited a moment, watching Emily as she nervously stared down at her feet. When nothing came out of the other girl's mouth Paige scoffed with a shake of her head, "Can't even talk to me anymore huh?" She said bitterly.

Emily looked up and opened her mouth but Paige cut her off, "You know when your mom told me you were coming this summer I thought you were just going to bail at the last minute like you always do." Paige stated with a shrug, "Say something came up at work or you had so much going on that you just didn't have the time. But then your mom told me you actually were coming this year. That you actually got on the plane and I was stupid enough to let myself get excited to see you." Paige said scoffing out a small laugh, "Can you believe that?"

"Paige-"

"No don't, okay." She said shaking her head, "You were right."

"What are you talking about?"

"This isn't my family, it's yours." Paige admitted with a shaky voice and a heavy sigh that nearly broke Emily's heart, "But don't worry about me, I have a feeling I won't be sticking around much longer." She stated harshly before walking towards her room.

Emily quickly followed Paige out of the bathroom, stopping her before she got to her room, "Look I don't know why I said that Paige. You know this is just as much your family as it is mine." Emily tried.

"No Emily it's not!" Paige yelled in frustration, "I don't have a family anymore."

"Paige." Emily said softly not really knowing what else there was to say as she reached out for the girl.

Paige quickly dodged Emily's hand that was reaching out for her as she did her best to hold in the tears that were now blurring her vision, attempting to swallow the lump in her throat.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Derek asked as he came out of his room where he could hear the two clearly fighting, startling both girls.

He made it out just in time to see Paige wipe her eyes before she stormed off down the hall and down the stairs. Derek looked to Emily who was cursing under her breath frozen in her spot. "What happened?" He asked as he stared at his sister who just sighed.

"She heard us talking earlier." Emily admitted wanting to go after Paige but feeling like it wasn't her place anymore.

Derek shook his head clearly upset, "Way to go Em. We get it okay, you hate Paige for some unknown reason now but seriously bringing up family is a really low blow and from all people for it to come from you."

Emily dropped her gaze to the floor knowing that her brother was right. Family was a sore spot for Paige and she never imagined that she would ever say anything about Paige not being a part of hers because in all honesty she really was. She had probably spent more time with Emily's family than Emily herself in the last few years and Emily knew that for her to try to take that away from Paige was wrong.

"Will you go make sure she's okay?" Emily asked lowly, her eyes still on the floor.

Derek sighed, "If I can find her."

"We both know where she's going Derek, just make sure she's okay."

"What do you care Emily. You'd probably be happy if you drove her out of the house. I don't know what went down between you two when you broke up and honestly I'm not even sure if you two know yourselves what happened to you guys but you seriously need to figure it out because Paige isn't going anywhere." Derek said harshly as he walked back to his room to grab a jacket and then quickly jogged his way down the stairs and out of the house.

He quickly made his way down the driveway, yanking his car door open in annoyance and jumping in. As mad as he was at Emily he did what she asked him to and drove to the cemetery even though he knew Paige wouldn't be there this time.

There was no way Paige would go there if she thought there was even the slightest chance that Emily would follow her. Or maybe she was avoiding the place Emily knew she would run for the chance Emily wouldn't come running after her like she used to, which might break Paige's heart more than it already was.

Derek knew where Paige was going and he knew that Emily wouldn't like it once she found out but he drove to the cemetery anyways and slowly made his way over to the pair of headstones that were all too familiar. He sat down in front of one of them, resting his back up against it as he leaned his head back and shut his eyes with a heavy sigh.

On the other side of town Paige walked up to a door that had come to be a familiar sight and knocked lightly, shoving her hands in her pocket as she waited patiently for the person to answer. The door swung open slowly and Paige was met with a smile that quickly turned sympathetic once she got a good look of Paige's face. Paige ducked her head slightly and rubbed the back of her neck nervously, she knew that she probably looked like a mess having just cried in her car for a good fifteen minutes before coming up here but she couldn't really find it in herself to care.

"Hey." Paige said as confidently as she could, bringing her gaze back up to the woman in the doorway.

"So I guess it's true then." She said as she stepped aside and gestured for Paige to come in, "Emily Field's finally came back to town huh?" She said closing the door and walking straight over to the kitchen.

Paige looked at her curiously as she walked straight to the couch, where she slumped down, her eyes still cast over her shoulder eying the other woman, "What I can't just come over for you?" She asked innocently.

The other woman tried but couldn't hold back the laughter that escaped her mouth, "Seriously when has, whatever sort of twisted relationship we have going, not had something to do with Emily?" She asked as she held up a bottle of vodka, looking for Paige's approval.

Paige nodded, clearly needing a drink. The woman came back joining Paige on the couch as she handed her the bottle, which Paige immediately took a swig of, "So what'd she do to you this time?" She asked.

"Come on Sam, I came over here to forget that she's back not to talk it out and get all in touch with my feelings or whatever." She informed returning the bottle to her lips.

Sam laughed a little, slowly pulling the bottle away from Paige, "Slow down." She said, not wanting to lose Paige to drunkenness immediately.

"You know it's only sad and depressing if I'm drinking away the pain alone." Paige said, urging Sam on with a smirk as she shrugged with a teasing smirk.

"Tell me what she did." Sam said seriously, not feeding into Paige just yet.

Paige let out a heavy sigh, "Nothing." Sam gave Paige an 'are you kidding me' look waiting for Paige to give her anything to work with. Paige sighed again as she rubbed at her face, pausing for a moment before answering, "She brought her girlfriend with her."

Sam's eyes widened. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to come out of Paige's mouth but it definitely wasn't that. Sam didn't know what to say to that so instead she let out a heavy sigh and lifted the bottle to her lips, taking a swig before passing it back to Paige.

"Yeah my feelings exactly." Paige said with a pathetic laugh, drinking some more before relaxing into the couch, "Can I stay here tonight?" She asked, looking up at Sam from her slumped position.

Paige knew she didn't have to ask but she always did. Her and Sam had become friends over the last few years, before then they talked here and there but nothing more than casual conversation when they ran into each other. Back when they were all in high school Sam had a crush on Paige and didn't bother holding back on her flirtatious games, even though she was very aware of her relationship with Emily.

For this reason alone Emily had always hated the girl and because Sam had always shown interest in Paige the feeling of hatred was pretty mutual. Paige had never really been friends with Sam due to this, but once Emily and her broke up Sam and Paige had somehow become fast friends.

"Of course you can." Sam said with a sympathetic smile as she squeezed Paige's knee softly in reassurance, fully aware that Paige was still full blown in love with Emily and that her coming home with someone else must have crushed Paige.

Sam had always known she never had a shot with Paige and that the brunette had always belonged to Emily. But even as her crush on Paige had died down way back in high school, she had continued to show interest in Paige for the sole reason that it ticked Emily off so much.

When Emily left town Sam had found out from an extremely drunk Paige, who was completely heartbroken and seemingly a mess over the situation. After that Sam had tried to help comfort Paige through it all and eventually they had grown to care for each other. Of course this was in a completely platonic way, although they had fallen into bed with one another from time to time. Neither of them were in love with each other but it was nice to have someone be there for you, especially in Paige's and Sam's situation where they didn't really have anyone else to lean on and it was easy to get lonely.

Sam watched Paige closely as the brunette next to her took another drink from the bottle and she quickly grabbed it from her taking a sip herself. Sam didn't necessarily want to drink because she had work in the morning but she also didn't want Paige to feel too rough in the morning knowing that if she didn't help the girl drink some of the bottle, Paige would most likely try to drink the rest of it herself.

Sam was one who could hold her liquor and even when she got plastered, she always somehow managed to feel fairly decent when she would wake up in the morning. Paige on the other hand was a completely different story. She could hold her own when it came to drinking, Sam's pretty sure she's gotten way better in the recent years after Emily left but the girl managed to wake up with the worst hangovers every morning after.

The two girls continued to drink throughout the night, until they ended up in a heap of tangled limbs horizontal on the couch. Leaving a trail of their clothes behind them as they slowly made their way into Sam's bedroom, wrestling around in the sheets until sleep took over them sometime in the early hours of the morning, in a weak attempt to forget reality.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who has been reading this story and for those of you who take a moment to let me know how you're liking it so far, I really appreciate it :) I also wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season, whatever it may be that you celebrate this time of year, I hope everyone has a good one!**

It wasn't the first time Paige had woken up in Sam's bed with a raging hangover and with Emily's grand return with a new girl on her arm, Paige was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last. She let out a loud groan as she rolled over onto her back and peaked out of one eye when she heard a small giggle, just in time to see Sam walk out of the bathroom.

"Morning sunshine." Sam teased, seeming a little too cheerful for someone who should be just as hungover as Paige.

"Why? How?" Paige managed to whine out in question as she closed her eyes and rolled back over onto her stomach pulling the sheets over her head and burying her face in her pillow.

"I'm blessed." Sam said amusedly, "Never been one to get big hangovers Paige, you're well aware of that. You on the other hand…" Sam trailed off letting out a puff of air and Paige knew Sam was mock cringing in response to how bad Paige always felt after she drank.

Paige laid there in silence as she tried to go back to sleep, hearing Sam make her way around the house as she did so before the sheets were pulled off of her head and she was forced to open her eyes.

Paige propped herself up on her elbows when she saw Sam standing over her with a couple of pills in her hand and a glass of water. "You Samantha are my savior." Paige exclaimed dramatically as she grabbed the items from the girl thankfully and took them quickly.

"I have to go to work but you can hang out here for a while if you want to." Sam said as she leaned down and kissed the top of Paige's head, "Go back to the Field's house though when you get up." Sam told the other girl as she sternly pointed a finger at Paige.

"Why?" Paige whined as she slumped back into the bed.

"Because you love it there and you shouldn't hide out here just because of her." Sam explained, "And I'm sure there will be people in that house worried about where you are."

"Fine." Paige agreed, "I'll go back. Happy?"

"The only thing that would make me happier would be to see Emily's face when she finds out that we're friends." Sam teased as she started walking out of the room, "And then some." She added, throwing a smirk over her shoulder in Paige's direction.

Paige laughed, "I'd rather stab myself then tell Emily I even speak to you."

"Tell her you do and she might stab you herself." Sam responded playfully although both of them knew it wasn't far from the truth.

"Well you're not wrong." Paige shouted out honestly as she heard the front door open and Sam laugh at her response before the sound was cut off by the front door shutting in the small apartment.

Paige shifted in the bed to lay on her back. She sighed heavily as she stared up at the ceiling, letting thoughts of Emily creep into her head. She closed her eyes tightly bringing both hands up to rub at her face. She felt crappy enough, the last thing she wanted to do was sit here and think about her ex. And as much as she felt like curling up into a ball right then on Sam's bed, crying until she physically couldn't anymore she figured that would do her no good.

So instead she sat up, running her hand through her disheveled hair while swinging her legs over the side of the bed and onto the floor. She slowly stood up getting out of the bed and walked over to the bathroom. She quickly showered and came out of the bathroom walking out of Sam's room in search of her clothes. She threw on her bra and underwear when she found them before making her way over to Sam's closet grabbing a pair of the girl's running shorts and one of Sam's old college sweatshirts, slipping it on quickly.

Paige cleaned up a little, thinking it was the least she could do for Sam after showing up out of nowhere last night but she didn't stick around the apartment very long, hoping that she could get back to the Field's house before Emily got up so she could avoid running into her this morning.

Paige made her way out of the apartment, locking the front door behind her before heading down to the parking lot and hopping into her truck. She drove back to the Field's house, getting there fairly quickly and parking her truck along the curb out front where she usually did.

She walked up to the front door dragging her feet, still not feeling the best after drinking so much the night before. She unlocked the front door quietly, softly closing it behind her as she walked into the house. She kicked off her shoes leaving them by the front door, feeling completely relieved that no one appeared to be up yet. The house completely silent. She let out a soft sigh as she walked across the room making her way toward the stairs as quietly as she could.

"You didn't come back last night."

Paige let out a small yelp in surprise as she brought her hand to her chest, "Jesus Christ." She whispered loudly not expecting anyone to be in the room with her. She groaned softly as she dropped her head back lifting her hand to rest on her forehead, closing her eyes tightly as sharp pains began to pulse through her head.

Emily sighed as she watched Paige do her best to regain her composure, "You okay?" She asked, standing up from the table and taking a few steps towards Paige.

"I'm fine," Paige mumbled out, putting her hand up to stop Emily from getting any closer, "I just want to go upstairs and get a little sleep, that's all."

"Long night?" Emily asked, earning a look of disbelief from Paige and immediately regretted asking such a stupid question.

"What do you think?" Paige asked, letting the tinge of annoyance and anger slip in her tone as she shook her head and pushed past Emily to get to the stairs.

"Where were you?" Emily asked before Paige could get to far away from her.

She knew she had no right to ask but when Derek had come back last night with no Paige she hadn't been able to sleep. Her mind filled with worry and guilt for what she had said. So when she figured she wasn't going to be getting any sleep anyways Emily had come downstairs at an ungodly hour and sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, a perfect view of the path from the front door to the stairs. The one that she had just caught Paige trying to sneak through.

"No." Paige said as she whipped her head back around to look at Emily, "No, you don't get to do that anymore. It's none of your business where I've been or what I do."

Emily could practically feel the rage radiating off of Paige's body as she spoke. Paige and her had fought towards the end of their relationship. They even had small fights during the best times of their relationship. But the angry scowl on Paige's face wasn't familiar to her at all. The woman in front of her looked exhausted. Her hair pulled back sloppily in a ponytail, eyes red, slumped shoulders, and behind the clear anger all the telltale signs of someone who was on the verge of tears.

Paige letting out a loud scoff brought Emily out of her thoughts and back to Paige, "You disappear out of nowhere years ago and you have the nerve to ask me where I've been." She spit out in complete disbelief.

With that comment Emily really knew she had done the one thing she swore she wasn't going to do when she came back home. Open old wounds. Wounds that she had desperately tried to close over the last few years. Of course to no avail.

"Yeah don't want to talk about that do you?" Paige said knowingly as she shook her head again, "Of course not." She said before turning around and going back upstairs.

This time Emily let her go.

Paige jogged her way up the stairs and down the hallway to her room, closing the door gently behind her and leaning her back against it as it shut. She closed her eyes tightly as her head dropped back resting against the door, finally allowing silent tears to make their way down her cheeks as she let out a shaky breath. A soft sob slipped from her lips as she opened her eyes and straightened up, pulling her body away from the door. She lifted her hand to her mouth, not trusting herself to not let out anymore unwanted whimpers, when her eyes landed on an unmoving form on her bed.

She took a minute to pull herself together before walking towards the bed and slowly pulling back the comforter to reveal Derek sound asleep on her bed. Guilt immediately entered her once she realized that she had never texted Derek where she was and figuring that the boy must have been waiting up for her to come home. She didn't hesitate to carefully slip into the bed next to him, pulling the sheets back over them, slightly nudging Derek to scoot over a little.

Derek let out a small groan of protest before allowing his eyes to flutter open slowly and Paige hated that the first thing to come to her mind was how much it reminded her of Emily. Finding the same crease between Derek's eyes that Emily had when woken up. Same split second confused expression before ease washed over his face as his eyes closed softly again. She knew it was Derek but all she could see was Emily.

"What time is it?" Derek groaned lightly.

Paige turned her body a little so she could see the alarm clock sitting on her nightstand, "7:12." She answered in a soft tone.

Derek made a humming sound in acknowledgment, "You okay?" He asked, this time eyes fully opened and focused on Paige.

Paige hesitated, wondering if she should try to lie to him but she knew there was no point as she noticed Derek's worried eyes scanning her face thoroughly, so she shook her head slowly as she did her best to swallow down the lump in her throat.

Derek flashed her a sad smile, nodding in understanding. He immediately scooted closer to Paige and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer as she buried her head into his chest, letting the tears fall. It wasn't a completely unusual position for them to fall into. Unfortunately Derek had spent more nights than he cared to holding Paige in his arms while she cried uncontrollably, doing what he could to comfort the girl.

However most of those nights had come years ago when Emily first left. Them slowly fading until they were nonexistent. Seeing someone who he considered his sister fall apart like this again made him mad and he didn't know what to do about it considering the person who was making Paige feel about this was his sister.

It wasn't long before Paige's tears subsided and Derek felt her breathing even out into slow, heavy breaths. Her body becoming heavy with sleep against his. He let out a small sigh as he looked up at the ceiling, he hated this. He just wanted to go back to when everything was fine.

Derek laid with Paige for at least an hour before pressing a kiss to Paige's temple and releasing his hold on the woman, carefully slipping out of her bed and out of the room. He closed Paige's door behind him quietly so he wouldn't wake the girl, even though he knew she'd be up soon and turned to head back towards his room.

"Morning."

Derek stopped in his tracks and looked up to find Emily's girlfriend, "Oh, uh good morning." He fumbled a little, not having expected to run into anyone in the hallway, "Where's Emily?" He asked hoping she hadn't gotten up yet.

Katie glanced behind her towards the stairs briefly before turning her attention back to Derek, "I think she's already downstairs, I was going to just use the bathroom and join her for breakfast."

Derek nodded, stepping to the side to allow a path for Katie to pass him and get to the bathroom, "Well I'm just going to get dressed and then maybe I'll join you guys down there."

Katie nodded, giving him a sincere smile before moving past him and to the bathroom. Derek watched the other girl carefully until she was out of sight. He couldn't help it. He hated her. She was the reason Paige had cried herself to sleep this morning and maybe it was more Emily's fault than anybody's but he couldn't find it in himself to hate his own sister so unfortunately for Katie, his hate was fully directed at her.

Derek sighed while he turned to head to his room to get dressed just in time to miss Katie coming back out of the bathroom and heading downstairs.

"Mornin' babe." Katie said as she walked into the kitchen and spotted Emily sitting at the table, dropping a kiss on her cheek before sitting in the chair next to her.

Emily gave her girlfriend the best smile she could come up with but to be honest she was still upset over her small argument with Paige this morning, "Hey." She said weakly, "I made some coffee if you want a cup." She added weakly, gesturing over towards the pot.

"Yes!" Katie said as she stood up and made her way towards the machine, Emily directing her to the cupboard with the mugs in it from her spot at the kitchen table, "Hey so what's the deal with your brother and Paige?" Katie asked casually as she poured her coffee.

Emily gave her girlfriend a weird look, not understanding, "What do you mean?"

Katie shrugged, turning and making her way back to the table Emily was at and sitting across from her, "I saw him sneaking out of her room this morning."

A laugh was falling from Emily's mouth as soon as she realized what Katie was implying, "Paige and Derek?" She asked, barely being able to get it out around her giggles, "Did you miss the part where she's my ex? She's gay. Like really really gay."

Katie let a small smile cross her lips as she watched Emily laugh off the suggestion, "Okay, okay I get it. There's nothing going on there. I just thought it was weird that he was slipping out of her room so early. And then I tried to talk to him in the hallway and he was acting weird. I don't know, I just jumped to conclusions I guess." She said, casually brushing off the whole thing.

"Paige might as well be his other sister." Emily explained briefly.

"Okay I get it." Katie said laughing before taking a sip of her coffee, "It was just a thought."

"What was just a thought?" Pam asked coming around the corner and entering the kitchen.

Katie immediately straightened up in her seat as she looked over her shoulder at Emily's mother, quickly answering, "Oh nothing."

"Katie thought there was something going on between Derek and Paige." Emily said with a chuckle, knowing her mom would get a kick out of it.

"Emily!" Katie ridiculed slightly embarrassed.

Emily laughed, "What," she asked shrugging, "I thought it was funny."

Pam smiled, happy to see Emily happy, "Well that would be…interesting." She said with a chuckle of her own, "Does she know?" Pam asked Emily quietly.

Emily nodded, not bothering to keep her voice down, "Yes, she knows Paige is gay and that we dated."

"Dated huh?" Derek asked finally walking into the kitchen, clearly already irritated over something.

"Yes." Emily stated firmly, "Dated."

"I think it was a little more than that." Derek mumbled under his breath, earning a glare from Emily.

Pam cleared her throat sensing that something was wrong, "Well that's in the past. Emily is dating a lovely woman," She stated turning to give a soft smile to Katie who returned it, "and Paige has moved on as well."

Derek's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he stared at his mother, "She has?" He questions, knowing damn well that Paige wasn't dating anyone.

Pam gave a pointed look at Derek, "Mhm."

This quickly caught Emily's attention, "I'm sorry, Paige is seeing someone." She asked formally, the question harder to push past her lips than it should've been.

"Well I don't know if it is serious or something casual but yes she is always hanging out with that lovely girl, what's her name again Derek?" Pam asked.

Derek narrowed his eyes at his mother trying to figure out who she was talking about, it taking a minute before his eyes widened in realization. He cleared his throat and quickly shrugged his shoulders, "I have no clue, I stay out of her business."

Emily scoffed, "Since when?" She asked, surprising Derek.

Pam ignored Emily's comment and the glare Derek was throwing in her daughter's direction the name coming to her, "Oh you know what, I remember it's that Sa-"

"Whoa!" Derek exclaimed with a nervous laugh cutting off Pam as he grabbed his mom's arm trying to stop her, "Sarah."

"What?" Pam asked confused, she was about to correct him but Derek cut her off again.

"Yep Sarah, that's…that's definitely what her name was." He spat out in a hurry.

Pam went to protest again, confusion clear on the older woman's face as well as Emily and Katie's, but Derek stopped her once again, "That was nothing mom, turns out Sarah's…" Derek paused briefly, trying to come up with something quickly, "straight." He stated confidently, "She's very straight. Such a shame really." He said letting out a huff of air.

Just then Paige came walking down the stairs, stopping in the doorway when she saw everyone staring at her, "What?" She asked quietly, she knew she was a little hungover still but she felt like she had pulled herself together pretty well. She was still in the sweatshirt and shorts she wore back home from Sam's but she had at least ran a brush through her hair.

"We were just talking about Sarah." Emily said before she realized what she was doing. She wasn't stupid, Derek was acting weird and it wasn't hard to figure out that something was up.

"Sarah?" Paige asked looking over at Pam and Derek for a hint of some sort as too what some girl named Sarah would have to do with everyone staring at her.

"Yep, Sarah." Derek stated moving away from his mother and over towards Paige, "I know you don't like to talk about her." He said putting his arm around Paige as if he was comforting her, "It's okay."

Paige looked up at Derek completely lost in what was going on, "Who the hell is Sarah?" She asked irritated with whatever was going on.

"Sarah." Derek stated through gritted teeth, "You remember Sarah. The girl you used to hang out with and then she turned out to be straight." Derek said trying to get Paige on the same page as him. It clearly wasn't working as Paige did nothing but furrow her eyebrows deeper.

Paige let out a heavy sigh, shrugging Derek's arm off of her, "I love you Derek but I had way to long of a night to try to keep up with whatever it is you are trying to do."

Derek slumped his shoulders in defeat, "Sarah, Paige! Sarah!" He said again firmly to Paige who was standing directly in front of him now, his eyes glancing down to the sweatshirt Paige was wearing and back up to her eyes a couple times, "Sarah." He emphasized again, his eyes dropping down to the sweatshirt one more time.

Paige looked down at her sweatshirt, it finally clicking once she saw it, her head popped back up and her eyes widened, "Oh Sarah!" She said turning around nervously to face the confused looks on the other three women's face, "Yeah, yeah I remember Sarah."

Derek let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose softly, knowing that there was no way anyone would buy any of this scene that just unfolded in front of them.

Pam looked at Paige questionably, knowing that there was no Sarah, but deciding not to say anything figuring that if they went through that whole charade than there was a reason for it. They clearly didn't want Emily to know about Samantha.

"Wow you have a weird family." Katie whispered quietly to Emily, trying to avoid getting involved in whatever was happening.

Emily ignored her though her eyes still narrowed at her brother in thought, he wouldn't look at her. Her eyes swiftly moved from her brother over to Paige, who also refused to look at her, instead moving past Pam and to the coffee maker to pour herself a glass.

Emily stood up from the table and took a step towards Paige, "So where did you meet Sarah?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"What?" Paige turned her head to look at Emily, slightly startled by the question.

Emily walked closer to Paige, leaning against the counter as she stared at her, "Where'd you meet her?"

"Umm," Paige glanced over towards Derek who wasn't helping at all anymore. Paige sighed, she knew Emily was trying to catch her in a lie, so she straightened up and put a smirk on her face, if Emily wanted to play games she could play games, "Church." She answered simply.

Derek couldn't hold it in, letting out a load snort. Katie watched carefully as her girlfriend and said girlfriends ex sized up each other. Pam choosing to leave the room, knowing that it could get ugly, forcing Derek out of the kitchen much to his disappointment.

Emily simply rolled her eyes, "Really? Why can't you just answer the question?"

"I did." Paige retorted without missing a beat.

"Please." Emily scoffed, "I'm not stupid, Derek was clearly trying to cover up something. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out." She said growing frustrated.

"Yeah and why are you so worried about what I'm doing?" Paige asked taking a step closer to Emily, she wasn't going to back down this time, "Why don't you tell me where you met Katie, huh?"

"I don't have to tell you anything." Emily stated harshly.

"Neither do I." Paige stated just as firmly, "Why don't you just go and sit with blondie over there."

"Don't call her that." Emily argued her hand coming up to shove Paige lightly in the chest.

"Don't touch me." Paige said, swatting at Emily's hand even though she had already pulled it away, taking a small step back about to say something else but stopping instead when she saw the anger sink from Emily's face instantly, it being replaced by a sad look of realization as her eyes drifted to Paige's sweatshirt. Paige quickly crossed her arms over her chest, trying to cover up the letters on the front, knowing that Emily was smart enough to put the pieces together.

Emily's jaw slacked as her eyes came up to look at Paige, "What is that?" She asked, her finger pointing to the sweatshirt covering Paige's torso.

Paige's eyes remained at her shuffling feet, "I-I...it's a sweatshirt." Paige swallowed hard, feeling the guilt quickly rise in her.

"Paige?" Emily asked seriously.

The softness of Emily's voice physically hurt her. Emily didn't have to ask the question. Paige knew what she was asking her. She knew Emily had figured it out. It wasn't hard to, there was only one person that they mutually knew that was at one time on the DUKE track team.

Emily was asking if it was her. If Paige had really gone and betrayed her like that. If out of all the people in the world, Paige chose her. It was a hundred questions all wrapped into the soft spoken word that was her name falling from Emily's suddenly heartbroken features.

Paige shook her head, "I don't have to answer anything." She mumbled out, not being able to look at Emily anymore. She turned to leave, forgetting her coffee cup on the counter, but she didn't get very far at all, Emily grabbing her arm stopping her.

"No but you're going to." Emily said in a voice that was soft but harsh, anger clearly laced in her words.

Paige flinched slightly at the tightness of Emily's grip on her forearm, "How long have you been with her?" Paige asked softly nodding over to Katie sitting awkwardly at the table, eyes glued to the scene in front of her. Paige didn't know why she asked that, she didn't even want to know the answer.

Emily's hand fell away from Paige, completely ignoring Paige's words, "Sam?"

Paige hesitated for a moment, not being able to say anything as she stared into Emily's eyes. She didn't remember a time where Emily ever looked at her with such sadness. She wasn't sure how long it took her but eventually Paige turned around and left the kitchen, not saying a word which she was sure said enough to Emily.

She had never felt ashamed of her friendship with Sam and she didn't have any reason at all to feel guilty for it. She did nothing wrong. But that didn't stop all those exact feelings from rushing through her in this moment.

Paige didn't stop when she heard Emily call out for her to stop. She didn't want to fight with Emily anymore. She had never wanted to fight with Emily. So she kept walking, grabbing her keys off of the stand by the front door and making her way straight out of the house, ignoring the calls from Derek behind her too.

Emily was the one who left those few years ago. Emily broke her heart. She was the one who brought another girl home. To their home. This was all Emily's fault.

It felt easier that way. Blaming Emily for everything. Paige didn't want this. She wanted Emily, she had always wanted Emily, but Emily didn't want her anymore. Emily wanted Katie. She had to keep telling herself that. She couldn't fall down the rabbit hole that was Emily Fields. She couldn't handle going through that kind of heartbreak again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday if you celebrate something this time of year and I hope you all have a happy new year, I hope it treats you all well! As always thank you all for reading and don't be afraid to let me know what you think of the chapter (good or bad), I love hearing your opinions and feedback to make the story better :) This isn't necessarily my favorite chapter I've written but I hope you all like it anyway. Enjoy :)**

Emily stood in the kitchen, staring blankly at the spot Paige had just been occupying before she walked out. Well that felt all too familiar, she thought to herself. That's how Paige dealt with things. She left.

Samantha Marx. That's someone Emily hadn't thought about in a long time. Happily so.

Emily couldn't stand her. Her perfectly straight dirty blonde hair that always fell perfectly in place. Her perfectly toned body that was filled out in all the right places. A smile that could drop anyone to their knees and the sun kissed tan that she had seemingly all year round. She was beautiful. But not only that, she was smart. Straight A's. Full ride to DUKE on a track scholarship. She was one of those people; everyone wanted her and if they didn't, they wanted to be her.

Sam had everything. Everything in this damn world. The only thing Emily had that Sam didn't was Paige. And now she had that too.

"Em?" Katie tried again, this time gaining Emily's attention, "Are you okay? That was kind of…intense." Katie said, looking worriedly at her girlfriend as she now stood by her side.

Emily shook her head absentmindedly, "I uh…" Emily stopped not sure what to say. Her head wasn't clear, she needed to talk to Derek, "I'm fine," She said clearing her throat, "I just need to talk to my brother real quick." She said, trying to walk off towards the living room but Katie caught her arm.

"Wait Emily, what's going on? Who is Sam?" She asked, confusion clear on her face.

Emily closed her eyes tightly, "No one." Emily stated, "She's just this girl we went to high school with."

"And that makes you upset that your ex is with her because?" She questioned, starting to feel a little uncomfortable with this whole situation.

"Because I hated her!" Emily yelled not being able to hold it in. Stopping she took a deep breath to calm herself down a little, "I'm sorry. You're right it shouldn't bug me and I know it's probably so weird for you to have to sit and watch me argue with my ex-girlfriend like that." Emily sighed heavily, not knowing how to control all of the emotions bubbling up inside of her at the moment, "I just, it's- I haven't been home in a long time and I never really got the chance to work things out."

Katie nodded slowly, intertwining one of her hands with Emily's, "It's okay." She reassured softly, rubbing her thumb across the back of Emily's hand, "I understand, it's a lot."

"Really?" Emily asked a little surprised. She doesn't think she'd be that understanding if the roles were reversed.

"Of course. She's an ex. Exes make people crazy." She said with a chuckle, "Especially one that is so close to your family. I can imagine that that makes it even more of a tricky situation."

Emily nodded, happy that Katie seemed to be taking this so well, "Thank you." Emily said appreciatively, "For understanding."

"Of course." She said while resting her hand lightly on the small of Emily's back, leaning in to kiss her lips lightly.

Emily smiled softly at her girlfriend but it somehow felt wrong. Her mind wasn't in the right place for this so she took a small step away from Katie who frowned at the movement.

"I'm going to go talk to my brother." Emily stated unsurely, "Is that okay?"

Katie nodded, "Sure." She said, turning to grab her cup of coffee off the kitchen table, "I have some work I have to do anyways and send to my boss before the end of the night." She said to reassure Emily that she didn't mind her leaving her alone for a little bit.

"Okay, I'll come check on you when I'm done." Emily said, waiting for Katie to make her way upstairs before moving out of the kitchen in search of her brother.

"Where is he?" Emily asked as she entered the living room to find just her parents.

Pam and Wayne both shared a look of concern before Pam stood up from the chair she had been sitting in, "Emily, honey, you need to calm down."

Emily rubbed at her face in frustration as she looked away from her mother for a moment, "I'm fine, I just want to talk to him."

"What good is it going to do Emily?" Wayne asked, seeing where this was going and he simply didn't want all this drama going on in his household.

"You know what, I'm so tired of everyone being on Paige's side." Emily stated, her frustration coming out in the statement, "I'm your daughter and I understand that you guys care about her too but are we all just going to forget that she had a part in what happened to us too!" She growled, tired of everyone acting like Paige had nothing to do with their breakup.

Pam sighed, "We didn't say that this isn't Paige's fault as well but you've moved on."

"Yeah and apparently so has she." Emily said, a bite to her words that was clear as day.

Emily didn't bother to wait around for anyone else to say anything to her, instead turning around and moving up the stairs with purpose, taking two steps at a time.

She walked into her bedroom, finding Katie sitting on the bed with her laptop in her lap already, "I'm going to go for a run." She mumbled as she dug through her suitcase, pulling out a tank top and a pair of shorts, peeling off the clothes she had previously been in and slipping on the new ones.

"That's a probably a good idea." Katie said, causing Emily to whip her head around.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Katie put her hands up, "You've been a little moody since we got here." She simply explained, "Running off some of your frustrations might be good for everyone in this house."

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm sorry." She said, "I hate that you have to see me like this."

Katie chuckled from the bed, causing Emily to peak up at her, "It's fine Em, I guess I figured out why you've avoided this place for so long." She admitted, "Doesn't bring the best out of you."

That wasn't always true, Emily thought. But she agreed now. The last couple of days hadn't been her best and it was showing.

"I'll be back in about an hour." Emily said, "And I promise I won't be so wound up when I get back." She laughed softly, walking over to drop a kiss on Katie's lips.

"Sounds good." Katie said with a smile.

Emily made her way out of the house, passing her parents without a glance. She sat on the porch steps and tied her running shoes before standing up and glancing around. The neighborhood hadn't changed much. It looked like the Miller's painted their house a different color. And the Joneses cut the big oak tree down that used to sit in their front yard right up against the house.

Nothing else seemed to change much besides those few things and it made her smile.

She remembered growing up here. She loved every second of it. She missed this small quiet town and she couldn't remember why she grew up wanting to get away from it so bad. She sighed again, walking down to the sidewalk and taking off in a steady jog towards town.

She jogged down familiar streets, the same run she used to do when she was in high school and trying to keep in shape for swimming. She already felt more at ease by the time she got into town where the streets were lined with small shops, cafes, and restaurants. She was too busy looking around that when she went to turn the corner at the end of the street she collided with another body.

The other person grabbed the sides of her arms instinctively when their bodies collided, successfully steadying her and preventing the both of them from falling.

"I'm so sorry." Emily rushed out as she tried to catch her breath, still trying to gain her composure as the other person stepped away from her and Emily placed her hands on her knees, leaning over.

The other girl let out a soft giggle, "Don't worry about it."

Emily's entire body tensed up, freezing in her position. She knew that laugh. She definitely knew that voice.

"You okay?" Sam asked, clearly not realizing Emily was in front of her, as she was still bent over, trying to catch her breath. Emily straightened up and looked at Sam, seeing her eyes widen a little in surprise as she took half a step back, "Emily?"

"Hello Sam." She replied in the most polite voice she could push out of her mouth.

Emily's eyes scanned Sam carefully. Fuck. Still perfect. Emily couldn't help but feel more annoyed about that.

"Wow, you're the last person I expected to run into today." Sam admitted with a polite smile, "It's been a long time." She breathed out with a hint of a laugh.

Emily nodded as she looked around her, avoiding having to stare at Sam, "Not long enough." She mumbled.

Sam scoffed in disbelief, "Really Emily?" She asked, shaking her head despite an amused smile on her face, "You really still hate me that much? I haven't even seen you since like sophomore year of college. You can't possibly still dislike me that much."

"No you're right I hate you much more now actually." Emily replied strongly, "You really just couldn't help yourself could you."

Sam closed her eyes lightly for a brief moment, "She told you." She sighed out. And Emily saw the worried look on her face and she wondered if the other woman was thinking of Paige.

"Of course she didn't tell me, but it's not hard to figure out when she's parading around in a DUKE track team sweatshirt." Emily stated causing Sam to genuinely laugh, Emily simply narrowing her eyes at her.

"God she really is so innocently clueless isn't she?" Sam said with a shake of her head, "She couldn't hide something if her life depended on it."

The statement only made Emily frown further. She didn't like hearing Sam talk about Paige like she knew her. Emily knew it was a stupid thing to feel, childish really, but she couldn't help the jealousy rise in her as she watched Sam talk about Paige fondly.

"It doesn't matter." Emily said with a shake of her head trying to repress the feelings that were brewing within her, "I've moved on so I don't know why anyone was trying to hide anything from me in the first place."

"Oh please." Sam said with a roll of her eyes, "You may be dating someone else but you certainly have not moved on."

Emily glared at Sam offended by her comment, "Excuse me."

"Tell yourself whatever you want Emily but neither of you have moved on and I doubt either of you ever will." Sam challenged.

"Good thing I don't care what you think." Emily replied, "I don't know what Paige would even see in someone like you."

"You don't even know me." Sam replied casually, "We aren't in high school anymore Emily, I'm not going to sit here and go back and forth pettily like we are."

"No we aren't in high school but it doesn't seem like you've changed much. You sure were quick to get under Paige as soon as you could weren't you?" Emily spit back.

Sam let out a pitied chuckle, "That shows exactly how much you really know about what's going on."

"So why don't you tell me what went on." Emily pushed.

Sam let out a heavy sigh, "It's not my story to tell you Emily, if you want to know you can ask Paige."

"It became your story as soon as you jumped into bed with her." Emily argued, her tone rising.

"Jesus, could you keep your voice down?" Sam said, grabbing Emily's arm and pulling her closer to the building they were standing next to.

Emily looked around them sheepishly, noticing a lady sat at a table not more than 10 feet away from them clearly being able to hear everything they were saying. Emily was pulled back to reality when she felt Sam tugging on her arm and pulling her down the sidewalk.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked a little aggressively as she tried to get out of Sam's hold.

"You want to talk," Sam said, annoyed, "fine then we'll talk but we're not doing it out here in front of everyone. Word will spread around this stupid place by noon that Samantha Marx and Emily Fields are cat fighting in the middle of town like they did in high school." She said as she let go of Emily's arm now that she was following her willingly, "You may not have to live here but I still do."

Emily followed Sam until they came to a car parked neatly by the curb, Sam opening the back door to throw her bag in the backseat before she got into the driver's side. She paused briefly after she started the car, looking at Emily expectantly, "You coming or not?"

Emily sighed heavily, what was she doing. This wasn't a good idea. But in spite of her thoughts she opened the door and climbed in the passenger seat, Sam taking off immediately. They sat in complete silence, the radio the only thing that filled the car as Sam drove. It wasn't long before they pulled into a small parking lot outside an apartment complex. Sam got out and Emily followed pleasantly, following Sam up a couple flights of stairs before coming to a door, waiting for the blonde to unlock it and shove her way inside, Emily again following patiently.

Sam shut the front door and flicked the lights on, "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back." Sam said, walking off towards her bedroom and leaving Emily alone for a moment.

Emily frowned. How did she end up in Samantha Marx's apartment? Paige was going to kill her when she found out. Emily took a moment to glance around, the small apartment just like any other, nothing too special. Emily moved towards the couch and sat down trying to take up as little space as possible. It wasn't long before Sam reappeared in sweats and a t-shirt, much different outfit from the blazer and tight skirt that she had on just moments ago.

Sam sat in a recliner in the living room a few feet away from Emily before addressing the woman, "It wasn't like that at first." She stated causing Emily to furrow her eyebrows in confusion, "Me and Paige. We hadn't talked in a long time. Probably around the same time I last saw you."

That surprised Emily. She knew Paige and Sam weren't best friends or anything but Emily had always assumed that they had kept in contact all the way through college at least.

"I moved back here after I finished up at DUKE. My dad had a job at his law office for me here so I figured why not come back, it'd be easier than trying to fight for a position somewhere else." She started, "You know that bar on Jamison downtown?" Sam asked, earning a nod from Emily, "I got a bar tending job there on the side to save up a little more money. I worked there for a couple years and that's where Paige and I ran into each other again."

That confused Emily further, Paige had never been a big drinker and she definitely didn't frequent bars.

"I was surprised to see her in town still." Sam admitted, "I was even more surprised to hear that you and her had broken up." She said, taking a moment to scan Emily's face for a reaction.

Emily tried her best not to have one. She nodded, her tongue slipping out of her mouth to moisten her lips, staying silent. Clearly urging Sam to continue, she didn't have a comment on that.

"Honestly Emily, she was a mess." Sam said with a sigh as she recalled seeing Paige surprisingly slipping into her bar that first night.

Emily swallowed hard assuming she was the reason for that. She didn't need to assume, she knew it was because of their breakup, she had been a mess too.

"And, God, I shouldn't be telling you this," Sam said, dropping her head back and looking up at the ceiling, clearly torn which peaked Emily's interest, "but I'm going to because I know she won't tell you herself."

Emily didn't know when it happened but she wasn't breathing anymore as she awaited Sam's next words. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what was about to be revealed.

Sam let out a final heavy sigh, "She found out where you went."

"Where I went?" Emily asked, confused.

"When you left." Sam clarified, "She found out you went to New York."

Emily nodded slowly in understanding. She knew Paige would look for her when she left. That was expected. And she was pretty sure she knew how Paige found out, "My mom told her." She stated more than asked.

"Paige eventually pried it out of her." Sam confirmed, "Emily. She went after you."

"What?" Emily asked quietly, her eyes widening slightly.

"Paige." Sam stated cautiously, "She went to New York to find you."

Emily shook her head, "No she didn't." She stated as she stood form her spot on the couch, "She never came to New York, I obviously would've known if Paige flew to New York to see me."

Sam stood up, matching Emily's movements, "She told me Emily." The blonde stated calmly, a sad look on her face as she watched Emily shake her head, "She…" Sam stopped herself with another sigh, she shouldn't be telling anyone any of this.

"She?" Emily asked impatiently this time, waiting for Sam to finish, "She what?"

"She saw you." Sam confessed, "She went to the hotel your mom said you were at. She couldn't get the person at the front desk to tell her what room you were staying in so she went and sat out front of the hotel and waited. I guess she was hoping she'd catch you coming in or leaving, I don't know."

"And?" Emily pushed, knowing there had to be more to the story the way Sam was acting.

"She said that she waited for a little while but it was cold so she went back into the hotel." Sam said hesitantly, "She saw the hotel bar and she thought she could grab a drink while she waited." She added, looking up at Emily to see if she understood yet but Emily clearly didn't, "She umm…she saw you with her."

Emily felt her lip quiver as she tried to recall anything from back then. She had been to the hotel bar maybe two or three times the entire time she had stayed there for the three weeks she was there before she found a place to stay permanently. She closed her eyes tightly as she remembered she had only ever been there with Katie.

"What'd she tell you about it?" Emily demanded, "What'd she think she saw?"

"I already said way too much Emily." Sam said as she shook her head, "Paige is going to kill me for talking to you at all."

"Just tell me!" Emily exclaimed, before taking a calming breathe, "Please." She begged, this time much more calmly, "I need to know."

Sam nodded, "Well like I said she came into the bar. She had just gotten back from New York that night…

 _Paige pushed through the door, her head down and shoulders slumped, making her way to the bar, deciding on a bar stool at the end away from everyone else who filled the place._

 _"_ _What can I get you?"_

 _Paige looked up to find a familiar face but she didn't care, "Something strong." She stated simply, resting her arm on the bar in front of her._

 _"_ _Paige?" Sam asked, "Wow it's been awhile since I've seen your face." She stated amused by having the woman in front of her, "So you're back in town huh?" She asked in a friendly tone as she grabbed a bottle off the shelf and poured Paige a shot._

 _"_ _Came back after college." Paige said uninterested as she took the shot and slapped it back down on the bar aggressively, grimacing at the burn in her throat, "Hit me with another?"_

 _"_ _Whoa, rough night? "Sam asked becoming a little concerned, pouring another shot anyway, "Where's your better half?" She asked unknowingly._

 _Paige shook her head as she downed the next shot, "We're not together anymore." She said as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand._

 _"_ _Is this a recent development?" Sam asked, leaning against the bar and looking at Paige surprised, "I don't remember you being a big drinker back then and you seem pretty upset." She decided to point out the obvious, "Any chance you two got in a fight tonight? Maybe you should go talk to her."_

 _Paige scoffed, "She dumped me two weeks ago." She said abruptly, "Well actually she didn't really dump me, but I'm guessing that when you come home to find your fiancés engagement ring on the counter and her gone that it implies you've been dumped." She said, gesturing to her empty shot glass which Sam filled agin despite her better judgment._

 _Paige took the shot quickly, staring aimlessly at the glass in front of her, fiddling with it distractedly, "I'm so sorry Paige. I can't believe Emily would do something like that to you. Are you sure there isn't more too it. I mean maybe you should try talking to her."_

 _Paige laughed humorously, "I flew all the way to New York to talk to her." She grumbled angrily, "And you know what I show up to find. Her at the bar cuddled up to some random woman!" She said slapping her hand down angrily on the bar causing Sam to jump back startled at the action and drawing attention from some of the others in the place._

 _Sam looked around apologetically for a moment before Paige's voice brought her attention back to the brunette, "Was it really that easy to leave me? We've been together since high school and she just walks out on me like that." Paige said a sob escaping her, "And to twist the knife she's already out with some other woman!"_

 _"_ _Hey keep it down over there!" Some guy yelled from the other side of the bar._

 _Paige whipped her head around angrily, "Why don't you mind your own fucking business!" Paige yelled across the bar, causing the guy to start moving towards her which Paige responded to by standing up._

 _"_ _Paige!" Sam stated firmly, moving to try to get out from behind the bar and over to Paige as quickly as possible, "Stop."_

 _"_ _You got something to say buddy?" Paige asked harshly._

 _"_ _Someone handle this girl." The guy said as he reached Paige._

 _"_ _Why don't you handle me tough guy?" She asked not waiting for a response as she swung at him, her hand connecting with his jaw._

 _Sam rushed over to the pair but didn't reach them in time to stop the guy from swinging back at Paige, connecting with her head and knocking Paige straight to the ground._

 _"_ _Oh my god." Sam said as she dropped to her knees and cradled Paige's head in her hands, "Hey Paige?" She asked softly, the girls eyes shut and a large cut below her eye. Sam lightly tapped her cheek, "Paige."_

 _Paige's eyes tried to open but the girl simply winced, her eye already swelling, "Okay come on, let's get you to the hospital." Sam said as she pressed a cloth to Page eye, trying to stop the bleeding._

 _The people in the bar rushed to remove the man from the building while others helped Sam get Paige to a car so that she could get her to a hospital. Sam got Paige to the hospital without any trouble considering the girl was out of it the entire time. They were in and out of the hospital after a couple hours in the waiting room and a quick stitch up to the cut below Paige's eye._

 _Sam took Paige back to her place and by the time they reached it Paige was back to herself. "Hey Rocky, think you can make it up to my apartment okay by yourself?" Sam asked softly._

 _Paige nodded slowly, moving out of the car and with minimal help from Sam made it into the girl's apartment and onto her couch._

 _"_ _How are you feeling?" Sam asked as she sat on the arm rest of the couch and looked down at Paige._

 _"_ _Worse than shitty." She answered honestly, "How could she do that to me?"_

 _Sam dropped her eyes to her lap, she didn't know what to say to that so she just stayed silent and let Paige vent._

 _"_ _I was devastated when I came home and found her gone. It took me a week to convince her mom to tell me where she was." Paige admitted softly, "I thought if I went after her. If I apologized for everything and just saw her everything would be okay again." She said tears streaming steadily down her face, "It can't be over Sam, I need her."_

 _Sam nodded, "Are you sure you saw what you think you did?" Sam asked cautiously, "I mean I wouldn't say I'm best friends with Fields but I really can't imagine her taking this easy and moving on like that." She stated honestly._

 _Paige shook her head, biting her lip, "They were dancing." Paige said quietly, "She hasn't been happy with me." The brunette stated, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment as if she was recalling something before she continued, "She was smiling." She said bitterly, "I haven't been able to make her smile like that in a while. We've been arguing lately." She breathed out, taking a moment to wipe at her eyes the best she could without disrupting the bandage on her face._

 _"_ _She looked a lot happier to me." She stated sadly, "And here my dumb ass is following her to New York. And for what?! To find her with someone else already. It's pathetic." She stated her mood instantly changing to anger in a second._

 _"_ _Why don't you get some sleep?" Sam said as she stood up, "Maybe in the morning when you feel a little better you can try to give Emily a call, okay?" She said reassuringly, "I'm sure this is just some misunderstanding. You can talk to her and you two can sort all this out."_

 _"_ _I don't think it's that easy." Paige whispered, "It's my fault." She offered, "She warned me she was going to leave if things didn't change." She admitted as she closed her eyes and Sam pulled a blanket over her, "I just didn't think she ever actually would, you know."_

 _Sam looked down at Paige wondering what had happened between her and Emily, "I was going to be better for her. I was going to fix everything, I swear." Paige pleaded, opening her eyes slightly to look up at Sam as if she desperately needed someone to believe her._

 _"_ _I believe you." Sam said softly, "You still can. In the morning though, okay?"_

 _Paige nodded, closing her eyes again, already slipping into sleep…_

"When I woke up she was gone. I didn't have any way to contact her and I didn't know where she was staying." she continued, "But she came back into the bar to apologize a few days later." Sam said as she looked at Emily who had sat back down on the couch and now was sitting with her head in her hands, "We slipped back into being friends and I tried my best to help her sort herself out." She explained, "I tried to get her to call you but I don't know, like I said she was a mess and probably embarrassed. Heartbroken." She added shrugging, "She convinced herself that you didn't want her anymore."

"She went rogue." Sam admittedly even though she knew Paige was going to be beyond pissed that she was giving Emily insight to what happened when she left, "She quit her job because she swore that was the reason you left her and she couldn't stand being there knowing it. And she wouldn't talk to your family for months."

Emily shook her head, tears silently streaming down her face as she listened to what Paige went through.

"I couldn't help her, I didn't know what to do." Sam said, "One night I couldn't get a hold of her so I called your brother and got him to help me find her."

Emily lifted her head from her hands when Sam stopped talking, not saying anything for a moment. The look she found on Sam's face worried her for what she was about to hear.

"She uh..." Sam paused swallowing down the lump in her throat, "she had gone to a bar just outside of town. Had too much to drink and on her way home she crashed."

Emily's eyes closed tightly as a sob escaped her lips, she dint want to know anymore but Sam kept going anyways.

"She hit the railing on the freeway going 85 mph and flipped your mom's car." Sam said, clearing her throat, "She was lucky. A couple broken ribs and a broken leg, but that's it besides a few scratches. After that Derek and I were able to get her back on track. She realized how much she had lost control of her life and pulled it together. She didn't want to be that person anymore."

Sam left it all at that and gave Emily a minute to take in the new set of information before speaking again.

"Nothing me and Paige did was to spite you Emily. We were just friends for over a year but she was trying to move on from you. She was trying to get better after everything that happened and one of the things she felt she had to do was to try to let you go." Sam stated sadly, "She'd been waiting for you to come back for over a year. Hoping you'd give her another chance and it was killing her. She got lonely and so was I and it just sort of happened but it never has meant anything. She's still in love with you. She's always been in love with you."

"Just…" Emily paused, "just stop." She said not moving from her position on the couch.

"It was Katie." Emily said, lifting her head out of her hands to look at a confused Sam, "The girl she must have saw me with. I remember that night. Katie was trying to make me feel better." Emily explained, "I was a mess too when I left. I immediately wanted to go back, I just left. I knew if she was there I wouldn't leave, I couldn't look at her and go through with it."

"You don't have to explain anything to me." Same said.

Emily nodded, "I know but I want to." She said, "I tried to talk to her. To tell her I was going to leave, but every time I tried, I'd back out because I loved her more than anything." She admitted, "I needed her in my life, I didn't know who I was without her anymore and I couldn't leave, I dint want to." She added before moving onto what she had previously been saying, "I was at the bar because I felt so guilty for leaving. I- my heart was broken. It was never supposed to end like that but Paige she was working all the time, I couldn't…" Emily sighed heavily, "I was alone all the time and Paige didn't get it."

"I wanted more with her. I wanted her to be there and once we got married I wanted to start a family with her but how could we possibly do anything with her working non stop." Emily vented, "We hadn't even gotten married yet and we had already started arguing. Mostly about her job. She felt that she needed to make the money so we could be secure or something. She wanted to provide and there's nothing wrong with that but she was always gone and we had more than enough money between the two of us already. We argued about it for a while and I just couldn't take it all anymore. I tried to tell her that I just wanted her to be around more but she kept pushing me. And I…"

"You left." Sam finished for her.

Emily nodded, "I had to. I loved her with everything I had." She swore to Sam, "I didn't want to hurt her but I didn't know what else to do. I told her if something didn't change that it wasn't going to work out."

"She knows she messed up." Sam said, resting her hand lightly on Emily's shoulder, "She knows it was her fault too Emily. You did what you thought was right for you."

"Yeah but I'm not so sure it was." Emily admitted, "I shouldn't have done that to her. She could've died Sam!" Emily stated still in shocked over everything, "She deserved more than that. An explanation or a chance to change."

"So did you." Sam argued, "She made her choices Emily, those aren't your fault. And from what I heard, you gave her a chance to change and she didn't."

Emily let a low laugh slip through her lips, "Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"Comforting me." Emily said, looking up at Sam, "Shouldn't you be on Paige's side?"

"I will admit that I never imagined I'd find myself comforting Emily Fields in my living room," She stated with a light chuckle, "life's full of surprises. But despite what you may think of me I'm rooting for you two."

"Well I wouldn't hold my breath." Emily said, "I'm with someone else and me and Paige are way to broken to be fixed."

"I wouldn't be so fast to give up on the idea of you and Paige finding yourself back together." Sam said with a smirk, "I'd bet on you two. Technically speaking I already did, always have had my money on a Paily endgame."

"Do I even want to know what that's supposed to mean?" Emily asked with a curious stare.

"I plan on enjoying taking every dollar from Derek when you and Paige reconcile."

Emily's jaw dropped, "You have a pool going on me and Paige?!" she asked incredibly.

"Well your dad started it." Sam said with a chuckle, "I just placed my bet, everyone can always use a little extra cash." She said with a wink.

Emily laughed and shook her head as she stood up, "Thank you Sam." She said sincerely.

Sam nodded in understanding, "Paige has become my best friend." She stated, "I want her to be happy. Without you in her life I don't think she'll ever be as happy as she used to be."

"I never meant for this to happen."

Sam shrugged, "No one ever does. Go find her." Sam suggested, "Talk to her. Let her know that you aren't mad. Maybe at the very least the two of you can get a little closure."

Emily nodded in agreeance, "Thank you." She said again before leaving the apartment and moving toward her destination. She was hoping she'd know where Paige was and that she could find her and clear up a few misunderstandings from their past.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! As always just wanted to thank everyone for reading and for all the feedback I've gotten for this story, you guys are amazing! Feel free to continue letting me know what you think (good or bad), I love hearing from everyone either way. Also this chapter, in my opinion, could potentially be a little emotional so I wanted to warn you that this chapter talks a little bit about drunk driving, accidents, and death. Just wanted to give a heads up in case you don't like that kind of stuff and don't want to read it. Anyways, thanks again and I hope you all enjoy :)**

Emily didn't hesitate to head over to the other side of town, hoping that Paige would be exactly where she had expected her to be. She knew it's where the Paige she had known years ago would be. Her parent's vacation house by the lake.

It was a place they frequented a lot as teenagers, even after Paige's parents weren't around anymore. They would always come sit at the end of the dock and toss rocks into the water watching it ripple, spending countless hours burning time doing absolutely nothing but wasting days away talking and fooling around as the sun set over the hills on the backside of the lake.

Emily's father had known the old man who owned the house before Paige's parents bought it. That's how the Fields and McCullers met, through the old man who Wayne had helped fix up the house. It was simple and quick but they had hit it off and with the McCullers coming back every summer to stay in the lake house and Wayne offering to keep an eye on the house for the rest of the year, they had all managed to become a tight group of friends.

It didn't take many summers before Emily and Paige became inseparable. And as the years went by and they got older, nothing changed. They would run off down to the dock to spend their time together, away from their families until the summer came to the end and the McCullers packed up and left.

The house quickly became a huge part of them. Their first kiss happened on the end of the small dock when they were a young thirteen and Emily had become curious after one of her friends had gotten her first kiss. Paige's mom unknowingly at the time witnessing the moment from the front porch of the house. Emily could still picture Paige's wide eyes when she leaned in and pecked her lips lightly, it barely being able to be considered a kiss at all. They shared so many memories here. Memories of innocence. Friendship. Love.

It was all impossible to forget.

When Paige's parents passed away the two girls were devastated at the assumption the house would be sold and they would no longer be able to spend their time there, however the cabin by the lake sat for years, it simply becoming an abandoned house that no one seemed to want. This allowed for the girls to continue showing up and spending their days by the lake on that little dock that they had fell in love on. And at the time it meant the world to them.

Emily couldn't help but wonder if Page still frequented this place or if she did everything in her power to avoid it considering what happened to them. And Emily suddenly became nervous about actually finding Paige here as she finally came upon the path that cut off the main road and lead to the house. A million questions flashed through her head as she paused at the end of the path.

Had anyone ever bought the house? Would Paige even be up there? What was she going to say if she did find Paige? She hadn't gotten that far, she just needed to see her. She didn't know what she was going to actually say.

Emily quickly stopped herself. Just do it, she told herself with one last deep breath before her feet started to move on their own accord up the path to the house.

The dirt path went on for a good while, the cabin and lake being hidden behind a thick set of trees surrounding most of the property. She stopped in her tracks when the dock finally came into view and a figure sat slumped over at the end of the dock, feet swinging softly in and out of the water.

She quickly noticed that the dock had clearly been fixed up and the few changes to the house but she was surprised at how similar it looked to what she remembered. She hadn't been here in years and just stepping onto the property took her back to all the time she had spent here growing up.

She momentarily let herself think back to the memories before she wondered again what ever happened to this place. If it had still just been sitting here all these years abandoned. She was suddenly overwhelmed with nerves. She even thought about turning around for a second and pretending that she had never even saw who she knew was Paige sitting there. However she inhaled slowly before letting it out. She needed to do this and she knew it. So she sucked it up and slowly made her way across the grass and towards the dock.

She was surprised when Paige didn't move at all as she reached the dock and stepped onto the wooden platform. She wondered if Paige had expected her. And she hated herself for it but she also wondered if Paige thought the light footsteps that were coming up behind her belonged to someone else. Maybe Sam.

She quickly shook that thought from her head, continuing to take careful steps as she got closer and closer to Paige. She stopped briefly behind the woman, just long enough to kick off her own shoes and peel off her socks before sitting down next to Paige gently, enough space for another body between them.

The two of them sat there for a while, the only noise between them being the soft splashing of feet swooshing through cool lake water. It was still early in the afternoon and despite it being summer, the sky was filled with clouds and the breeze blew cool off the water.

Emily wordlessly crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her hands up and down her arms for a short moment, the small t-shirt she was wearing not helping her bare the cold air as goosebumps crawled up her arms.

A deep sigh and a little bit of movement to her left startled her slightly and caused her to turn her head and look at Paige who was in the process of pulling her sweatshirt off only to ball it up in her hand and hold it out towards Emily.

Emily shook her head, "I don't want it." She said before she even realized what was coming out of her mouth, her tone slightly harsh and definitive.

Paige couldn't help but chuckle, her eyes staying glued to her feet still moving effortlessly in the water, "It's not Sam's." She offered, knowing exactly why Emily was refusing it, "I had it in the back of my truck and changed."

A blush creeped up Emily's cheeks in embarrassment, "You don't have to do that." She said a little awkwardly but Paige didn't give in so Emily simply grabbed the sweatshirt with a sigh and pulled it over her head, thankful for the action as soon as she had it on.

"We both know you are the biggest baby when it comes to the cold." Paige stated casually, as if it was general knowledge, "And I'm not interested in listening to you complain about it."

Emily felt the corner of her lip automatically tug up at the comment despite being slightly offended, "I'm not that bad."

"Mhm." Paige hummed slowly before going silent again.

Emily sighed again. She didn't know how to do this. Things were so messed up and Paige didn't like to talk about heavy stuff, which was part of their problem. Sure she could do it but Paige simply didn't like confrontation. And there was nothing wrong with that but they couldn't just avoid it forever.

The past had proven that was impossible.

Like a band aid, Emily thought. Just say it. Just bring it up. No beating around the bush. Just let it all out.

"I know." Emily let out a little clumsily rather than the brave statement she intended to make.

This grabbed Paige's attention, "What?" She asked as she stopped her feet and finally looked over at Emily slightly confused.

Emily took a deep breath, "I'm sorry." She let out, the statement a heavy one and she instantly felt her throat tighten and her eyes water. She took a shaky breath and let it out, she didn't intend to say that but all the stuff Sam had told her came rushing through her mind in an instant and now with Paige sitting next to her, she couldn't hold it in.

Emily didn't look over at Paige but if she had she would've been met with a deer in the headlights look, "Emily?" She asked still not fully understanding, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I talked to Samantha." Emily choked out, still not being able to pull herself quite together.

"Sam?" Paige asked, her tone letting Emily know that she was genuinely surprised, "When did you talk to Sam?" She questioned, "Why did you talk to Sam?"

Emily shrugged as she sniffled, trying to keep her composure, "I ran into her. She…s-she told me some things." Emily confessed warily, chancing a glance at Paige through the corner for her eye.

Paige stared at Emily, jaw slightly slacked as she tried to figure out what Sam would say to Emily. By the look on Emily's face it wasn't anything that Paige figured she'd want Emily to know, "What…uh…what did she say?" She asked as she brought her hand up to rub at the back of her neck nervously as she looked back out to the water, not being able to look at Emily.

She had a good idea what Emily was going to say and she wasn't sure if she was ready to have this conversation with her.

"She said that you were upset after I left." Emily said but quickly stopped when she heard Paige scoff from beside her.

"That's an understatement." Paige insisted casually.

Emily nodded, pursing her lips uncomfortably but pushing on anyway, "And that you came to New York?" Emily more so asked than stated as she glanced over at Paige again who didn't say anything in response.

After a few moments Emily sighed, "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked softly.

"What would it have mattered?" Paige asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she shook her head, "You seemed perfectly fine. I didn't need to embarrass myself any further than I already had."

This time Emily was the one who scoffed in disbelief, "Perfectly fine?" She asked angrily, "I walked out on the love of my life because we weren't the same people we had been before. We were falling apart and I didn't know what to do." Emily explained, "We were together for so long that I didn't even know how to function without you anymore but no I was completely fine."

"Didn't look like you were all that torn up to me" Paige said without missing a beat.

"You can think whatever you want Paige." Emily said, her anger continuing to rise, "You got a glimpse of me through a window and suddenly you know how I felt about everything?" She spat.

"Clearly there was something there because you brought her home Emily!" Paige snapped, finally turning her head to look at Emily, "You don't think I would recognize that woman anywhere? I knew it was the same girl as soon as I saw her sitting in the kitchen the first night you came back."

"We weren't together Paige." Emily said, her tone lowering to a normal talking voice, "She worked at the company I accepted the job at. She was assigned to show me around or whatever." Emily explained, despite Paige not looking all that interested, "I was a mess too you know?" Emily said softly, "I wanted to come back, I…" She paused, sighing as she ran her fingers through her hair, "It doesn't matter. That night she had walked me back to the hotel, I wanted a drink and she joined me. By the time you saw us I must've been a few shots in and you know I don't hold my liquor well." Emily said with a humorless chuckle.

"I hardly even remember that night." Emily admitted, pausing as she ran her hand down her face in distress, a sigh leaving her lips, "But nothing happened with her. I didn't go out and find her or anything like that. It sounds like she's kind of what Sam was to you." She said carefully, "Someone who tried to get me back on my feet after a bad breakup. Something that wasn't supposed to go anywhere but somehow did eventually."

"Yeah except I never dated Sam." Paige stated angrily. She was hearing what Emily was saying but she didn't care. It didn't make a difference to her, "I didn't bring Sam home and rub her in your face."

"You're sleeping with her." Emily argued, "You clearly care about here. What difference does it make Paige?" Emily asked rhetorically, "You can't be mad at me because I tried to pick myself up and move on."

Emily sighed when Paige just went back to staring mindlessly at the water in front of them. They weren't getting anywhere with this.

"I didn't do anything wrong Paige." She said, "I- maybe I went about things wrong. I shouldn't have just left like that."

"No you shouldn't have!" Paige interrupted loudly, surprising Emily.

"You're right." Emily agreed calmly, "I regret not going about it better but I wouldn't have ever left if you were there and you know that." Emily stated truthfully, "I needed to do it. I told you I was going to do it and you didn't do anything Paige." She challenged, "Maybe I made mistakes and I could've figured out another way but you made mistakes too. You can't just sit here and blame me for every little thing."

Paige knew Emily was right but she wasn't ready to forgive her ex for anything yet so she didn't respond at all.

"I didn't come here to fight with you Paige." Emily tried after a few moments of silence.

"What'd you come here for then?" The brunette asked bitterly.

Emily thought she knew the answer but she didn't feel like 'I had to see you' was appropriate right now, so she shrugged.

"I hate that this is how we treat each other." Emily decided on, "I hate that this is who we've become."

"We?" Paige asked, still clearly not taking responsibility.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Me. You. Why are you being so difficult right now?" She asked, starting to get a little irritated with Paige's attitude, "I'm trying."

"I tried to you know?" Paige spat back, "Years ago. I tried and you didn't want to listen."

"No!" Emily fought, "You tried but I had no clue you tried because I never saw you when you came after me. And you never told me you did, so how is that fair?"

Paige sighed as she closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose tightly.

They sat in silence for a while neither saying anything. Neither of them knowing why they bothered to even stay there with one another.

"Sam told me about it." Emily finally said.

Paige glanced over at Emily, whose eyes were trained on the water in front of them. Paige let the statement hang in the air for a minute deciding how she wanted to go about this. She didn't like talking about it and she didn't appreciate that Sam had told Emily about it. It wasn't hers to tell.

"About what?" Paige stupidly decided on.

"Don't do that." Emily shook her head lightly, tears brimming her eyes, "I'm glad you're okay."

Paige dipped her head in shame, swallowing harshly as she felt the lump forming in her throat and tears of her own threaten to fall.

"You may think I hate you." Emily managed to get out in a shaky breath, "Or that I didn't care about you when I left. That I didn't love you anymore. That I was fine." Emily said, "Whatever you talked yourself into. But none of it is true and I know deep down you know that."

"If anything ever happened to you Paige." Emily stopped, not wanting to even think about it, "I've gotten that call before," Emily reminded her despite knowing the reminder wasn't needed, "I wouldn't have been able to handle it again."

That finally broke Paige. A loud sob falling from her lips as tears rolled down her face freely, Emily not hesitating to scoot closer to the brunette and pull her in her arms tightly.

She had forgotten what it was like to be in Emily's arms. But somehow as soon as she was in them she felt as if she was safe. As if everything was okay. She was suddenly sixteen again sitting in a hospital on the worst night of her life, crying into Emily's shoulder far too similar to what she was doing right now.

She didn't like to think about that day but suddenly she was taken back to it. The memories that she hadn't thought about in a long time rushing back to her like they happened yesterday…

 _"_ _Paige come back here!" Emily called out with a giggle from her spot in the back of Paige's newly purchased truck._

 _"_ _Oh come on Em," Paige complained, her girlfriend's giggling causing the edges of her lips to curl upward, "summer ends in three days and I'm going to have to go back home, let me enjoy this for a little longer."_

 _This caused Emily to pout slightly, "I know, which is exactly why I want you to come back over here. At the end of the week you are going to be WAY too far away from me and so I plan on soaking up every minute I have with you."_

 _This caused Paige to blush but she chuckled to try her best to cover it up as she ducked her head, "I totally agree," Paige said, "But my parents are at our house and we're never here alone anymore. This is our last chance of the summer to do something without one of our parents watching us creepily through the house window." Paige whined as she gestured towards the house causing Emily to roll her eyes, "I think I can compromise though." Paige stated as she grabbed the hem of her tank top and raised her eyebrow, "Skinny dipping?"_

 _"_ _What if your parents come back?" Emily asked cautiously._

 _"_ _They told me they were going to be home late." Paige reassured, "I promise they won't show up."_

 _Emily bit her lip pretending to think it over, "I don't know." She said before she broke out into a laugh, "How could I say no to that." She teased gesturing to her girlfriend raising her shirt slowly up her torso._

 _"_ _You really can't." Paige said with a shake of her head as she stripped her shirt off completely and smirked at Emily._

 _Emily was about to hop down from the bed of the truck when her phone started to vibrate in the back pocket of her jeans. She stopped and slid it out of her pocket looking down at it curiously, "It's my mom." She said looking up at Paige._

 _Paige shrugged, "Don't look at me, I told her and my parents that we were going to hang out here all night so I don't know why she's calling." She stated, "Hurry up though okay, I was looking forward to our very naked plans."_

 _Emily shook her head but couldn't help but smirk, "Paige!" She scolded lightly with a chuckle before answering the phone, "Hey mom."_

 _Paige smiled as she saw her girlfriend answer the phone, her laughter still laced in her greeting to her mother but the smile quickly faded from her face when she saw Emily's expression completely change and her hand moving up to cover her mouth._

 _"_ _Are they okay?" Emily rushed out, panic clear in her voice causing Paige to move towards the truck and stand right in front of Emily._

 _"_ _What's going on?" Paige asked quietly, her hands reaching out to rest gently on Emily's thighs._

 _Emily looked down at Paige, tears welling in her eyes, "Yeah no we're…we're on our way right now." She nodded, jumping down off the back of the truck and onto the ground, hanging up the phone quickly._

 _"_ _Emily what's wrong?" Paige asked hurriedly, "Is everything okay?"_

 _"_ _Paige." Emily choked out, "W-we have to go. It's your parents, t-they were, they got in an accident."_

 _"_ _W-what?" Paige asked, her face falling instantly._

 _"_ _Give me your keys, we have to go."_

 _"_ _Emily wait." Paige said, grabbing Emily's wrist as the girl moved towards the driver's seat, "What happened?"_

 _Emily shook her head, tears still streaming down her face, "I-I don't know but Paige my parents are already at the hospital." She managed to get out, "We. Have. To go."_

 _Paige nodded as her lip quivered and she pulled her shirt back on as she got into the passenger seat. She hardly remembered the ride to the hospital. She just remembers them suddenly being there, Emily coming to an abrupt stop in front of the large building. She could see people walking in and out, but she just sat in shock staring like the world was in slow motion but then her door was being yanked open and Emily was pulling her out of the truck._

 _"_ _Let's go." Emily demanded, her arm around Paige's waist, dragging her along with her into the hospital._

 _She didn't feel good. She couldn't hear anything but everything around her seemed to be moving so fast suddenly. She looked at the lady behind the desk that Emily was talking to, she could see her lips moving furiously but she couldn't comprehend what was going on._

 _"_ _Emily?" Paige mumbled out as her girlfriend started pulling her away from the desk and to somewhere else._

 _"_ _Hmm?" Emily hummed in response, her eyes moving around the room focused on finding the elevator._

 _"_ _I don't," Paige said in a haze as she continued to glance around her surroundings uneasily, "feel good." She managed to get out shakily before swallowing hard._

 _Emily and her swiftly slipped into the elevator and everything was happening too fast, she didn't think that she'd be able to stand if Emily hadn't been holding her. Emily fingers lightly landing on her face brought Paige back to reality, trying to direct Paige's head up to look at her, "You're okay." Emily said softly as she carefully wiped tears away from Paige's cheek that she hadn't even realized were falling, "They're going to be okay." Emily said reassuringly as she nodded, "Come on, we're going to get you in to see them, okay. Just hold on for a little bit."_

 _Paige nodded despite Emily's weak attempt at reassurance, the terrified look in her eyes giving her away. She was scared. Just like Paige was._

 _Emily led her out of the elevator and over to another counter where she spoke quickly to someone before turning back towards Paige, "My parents are already back there, this doctor is going to take you to where they are to see your parents." Emily said, as Paige's eyes moved to the woman standing behind her girlfriend, a sympathetic smile on her face, "I can't go in with you right now but you'll be okay."_

 _Paige shook her head instantly, "What? No, you have to come with me."_

 _"_ _Hey, hey." Emily stopped her, grabbing Paige's face softly again, "Everything's fine. I can't go with you but I'll be right here when you come out. They're going to tell you what happened and what's going on. My parents are going to be in there with you. They'll take care of you. I promise"_

 _Paige nodded this time as she wiped at her eyes hastily, "Yeah. Okay." She said robotically, she didn't want to go anywhere but the doctor approached her and started leading her away down the hallway and despite her heavy feet she found herself following after a last reassuring smile from Emily._

 _Emily's eyes followed Paige until she rounded a corner at the end of the hall and was out of sight. She looked over her shoulder at the row of chairs that lined the wall and slowly walked over to the one in the corner, lowering herself into it slowly._

 _She linked her fingers together and squeezed, trying to get her hands to stop shaking as her mom's shaky voice filled her head. She sounded scared. And that scared Emily. She couldn't help but feel like everything wasn't going to be okay._

 _She dropped her head into her hands to shield her tears from the few doctors and people who were lingering in the large room._

 _She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting out there, but a hand on her shoulder made her head snap up to meet her father's face. Emily shot to her feet and wrapped her arms around her father, burying her head into his chest. His tight hold making her feel better instantly._

 _"_ _Are they okay?" Emily forced herself to ask, bracing herself for an honest answer._

 _She felt her dad shake his head and a hard sob wracked through her body, her dad kissing the top of her head as his grip managed to tighten around her but it didn't last long. Wayne pulled away slightly, his hands resting lightly on Emily's shoulders as he leaned down a little to look her in the eye, "Emily I think you should sit down and calm down a little."_

 _Emily nodded absentmindedly, dropping back into her chair, her dad doing the same in the one next to her. Emily got control of her breathing after a moment and looked up at her dad whose shoulders were slumped and his eyes puffy as a heavy sigh left his lips._

 _"_ _Dad." Emily whispered grabbing Wayne's full attention easily, "What happened?"_

 _"_ _They wanted to go out to a nice dinner since it was one of their last night's here." Wayne started explaining, "They were on their way back to our house and a truck on the other side of the road swerved and hit them head on. They think the man was drunk."_

 _Emily already had new tears streaming down her face, Wayne reaching over to wipe them, his hands rough against her cheeks. The older man cleared his throat, dropping his arm over Emily's shoulder and pulling her closer, "Paige's mother was killed on impact." Wayne said gently, "Nick is still alive but he isn't doing well sweetheart. They are about to take him into surgery but they're not sure if he's going to make it."_

 _"_ _Paige." Emily stated worriedly, as she shot up out of her chair with wide eyes, "I have to see her."_

 _Wayne stood up and grabbed Emily, stopping her from trying to move down the hallway in search for the other young girl, "Emily she'll be out in a second. They're letting her see her dad before they take him into surgery."_

 _Emily's eyes moved to the hallway as if Paige could appear any second but Wayne was pulling her down into her chair again and instead of fighting it she simply leaned into her father's touch and waited as patiently as she could for Paige to come out._

 _Just like her dad said, it didn't take long for Paige and Pam to appear and Emily didn't hesitate to pull out of Wayne's grip and race down the hallway towards Paige. She wrapped her arms tightly around her girlfriend as soon as she reached her and Paige broke down again in her arms._

 _"_ _I'm so sorry." Emily offered weakly as Paige sobbed, head buried in Emily's neck but it only lasted for a moment before Pam was pulling them apart lightly and directing them back towards her husband._

 _The four of them stayed at the hospital all night, news about how Nick was doing coming in through doctors throughout the night, but none of it good. It was somewhere in the early hours of the next day, the sun still yet to rise when the news that Nick had passed away as well was given to Emily's parents and then passed down to Paige and Emily._

 _Pam and Wayne spent the next couple of days trying to figure out what to do. They had been friends with the McCullers for years, since they had been spending every summer in town and they were well aware that neither of the two had very big family's and weren't close to any._

 _They did their best to console Paige as she struggled with the loss of her parents and the last thing they wanted to do was send her off to live with people she hardly knew at a time like this. So without hesitation they offered to let Paige live with them if that's what she wanted, much to Paige's relief._

 _They planned and attended the funeral for both within those few days which was hard for them all but they got through it together and did everything they could to make sure Paige had everything she needed and the support it took to get through something like this and slowly they were all able to mend their hearts after the loss to some degree, doing their best to return to their normal lives…_

The two sat there, the memories unwelcomingly entering their minds. Neither were sure how long exactly it took but eventually Paige's sobs turned into controlled sniffling against Emily's chest and words soon slipped from her lips, slightly startling Emily.

"How could I let that happen?" Paige asked, voice quiet and raspy from the crying.

Emily shook her head softly, "You didn't mean to do it." Emily tried although she knew it wouldn't do much to comfort Paige.

Paige shook her head violently, "That guy who hit my parents took everything from me." She confessed, anger still clearly there, "He was reckless and stupid and it's his fault my parents died. They didn't deserve that and he got to walk away from it!" Paige yelled, tears falling down her face again, "I could've done that to someone too. I'm no better than that guy."

Emily's jaw tightened, a tear slipping from her face as she listened to the clear guilt in Paige's voice, "You didn't though Paige." Emily said pulling away from Paige so she could look at her, "Maybe it was just dumb luck but you didn't hurt anyone."

"I could've."

Emily nodded, "You're right." She agreed softly, Paige turning and looking at her with a heartbroken expression. Emily lifted her hand and ran her fingers lightly down the side of Paige's cheek, her eyes dancing around her face, "You made a mistake." She whispered, "A big one and you're lucky you didn't hurt someone else. You're lucky that you didn't hurt yourself either."

Paige looked at her thoughtfully, "Your mom wasn't that nice about it."

Emily let out a wet chuckle, "Yeah I don't imagine that she took your mistake lightly at all." Paige simply shook her head to confirm this, "She loves you like you're her own, you know that. Same with my dad and Derek too." Emily said even though she already knew Paige was well aware of this, "We all love you Paige. You're part of our family. I can't imagine how they felt when you put your life in danger like that."

Paige nodded, bringing her hand up to rest against Emily's that was still lightly cupping her cheek. Emily's eyes moved to Paige's hand resting on hers and watched as Paige pulled Emily's hand away from her face and down into her own lap. Paige turned her hand over and cautiously slid her fingers in between Emily's before slowly letting her fingers close around Emily's.

"I'm sorry I did that to you." Emily said, her hand feeling warm in Paige's, "I never meant for things to be this way. For you to go through that. I would've never forgiven myself is something would've happened to you." Emily barely managed to get out. Just the mere thought wrecking her.

Paige finally lifter her gaze away from her and Emily's hands, still locked together loosely, to look at Emily and it broke her heart to see tears streaming silently down Emily's face, the guilt clear in her eyes. Paige swallowed hard, "It's not your fault." She said softly, "I made my own choices."

Emily stared at Paige, taking this moment in. She somehow felt lighter getting things off her chest. Paige felt it too. Everything she kept close to her in order to keep from Emily after she left were out there now. No more secrets and this isn't exactly what she had imagined would come when Emily came back but she figures it might have been what they needed.

Paige stared back at Emily, it'd been so long since they had been this close. Since she'd been able to look at her. Touch her. She was shocked by how similar it felt to the past. How just being in Emily's presence made her feel like nothing had ever gone wrong. Like they were still teenagers who thought nothing could touch them.

How wrong they had been then.

Paige suddenly was hit with the hard reality that Emily wasn't hers anymore and how she wasn't Emily's. She had let the memories of the past and the heavy conversation make her forget about where they were at. She quickly dropped Emily's hand as if it had hurt her to be holding it and when she stood up immediately after the action she saw Emily startle, still clearly in the haze that she herself had been in moments ago.

"I- I'm sorry, I have to go." Paige stumbled out.

"Paige wait." Emily said as she stood up, moving to catch up to Paige who was already walking away from her, "I don't want it to be like this anymore."

Paige stopped in her tracks, turning around to look at Emily who took a small step back away from Paige, "Like what?" She asked a little harshly.

"I know we have a lot of issues." Emily said causing Paige to roll her eyes, "Yeah I know...understatement." Emily responded in a whisper, "I realize I made mistakes but you have to realize that at the time I felt like I had to do those things. I felt like that's what was best for me. I wasn't purposefully trying to hurt you. I just- we weren't happy anymore and I think you know that. We loved each other, I don't doubt that at all. But we weren't happy."

"But now," Emily continued, "now I think it's time that we fix this to some degree. At least for our family's sake. You may be a McCullers but you're a Fields too and I think the least we could do is work out our problems enough so we can be civil and I can maybe come home more often. We can all just, be a family again." She suggested with a shrug.

Paige nodded, "Yeah." She said casually, "After everything your parents and brother have done for me. Yeah we can try to do that." She said solemnly before slipping her hands into her pockets and giving Emily a sad smile, turning around and walking back towards her truck without another word.

Emily watched her go. She sighed once Paige had climbed into her truck and pulled away, fading out of sight. Emily turned around and looked out at the water, a small smile coming to her face as she thought back to all the time she had spent here in the past and how happy she had been then.

She found it easy to admit to herself in that moment that she hadn't been that happy in years. Not since she had left. Not since Paige had been removed from her life. She sighed sadly, taking one last look before slipping the sleeves of Paige's sweatshirt that still hung heavy on her torso over her hands and walked towards the path that lead her off the property and back to the street.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm going out of town today so I had to rush this chapter a little bit but hopefully you all still like it. I also didn't have time to proof read the chapter either so I'm really sorry for any mistakes that may be in it. As always let me know what you guys thought of the chapter if you have the time, I love to hear all your reactions and suggestions. Enjoy :)**

It had taken her longer than she thought it would to get back home but eventually she found herself walking up the driveway of her childhood home and towards the front door, surprised when she didn't see Paige's truck anywhere. Emily ignored the fact and walked into the house. When she found the living room empty she peaked into the kitchen but didn't find anyone there either. She sighed and headed upstairs, hoping that Katie's work had kept her girlfriend occupied considering she had been gone for much longer than a simple run should've taken her.

She opened the door to her bedroom to find Katie still sitting on the bed, "Hey." Emily said softly, getting Katie's attention.

"That must've been some run." Katie said, a slight bite to her tone.

Emily sighed, "I'm sorry I ran into an old friend and time got away from me." She offered as an excuse. It wasn't a complete lie she figured.

Katie shook her head, closing her laptop and setting it off to the side, "Oh yeah? Who?"

Emily shrugged, trying to stay casual, "Some girl I went to high school with. It's not important" She said before trying to change the subject, "Hey where is everyone? I didn't see anyone downstairs." She said gesturing over her shoulder.

"Your parents had plans with some of their friends to have lunch," Katie answered, "and Derek said he had to run some errands before going to the gym."

Emily nodded, the room falling into silence. She shifted her feet uncomfortably as she watched her girlfriend on the other side of the room not knowing what to say. She could feel the heavy tension in the room and she didn't know how to make it go away. She couldn't keep lying and she knew that but she also didn't want to cause any more problems in her life. Or anyone else's for that matter.

It felt like they had been trapped in that room in complete silence forever despite the reality of it only being a minute or two before Katie's voice broke through the tense air, "Is it her?"

Emily furrowed her eyebrows, slightly confused by the question, "What?" She asked softly, not sure what was being asked.

"When you came to New York and you had ended that relationship you were in." Katie elaborated, "Was it her?"

Emily swallowed her nerves, not being able to look at Katie as she nodded her head slowly in confirmation.

"Jesus Christ Emily." Katie spit out in frustration, "Why the hell would you bring me here?" She asked angrily.

Emily dared to glance up at the woman on the other side of the room, who was now standing next to the bed and staring right back at her, "Why wouldn't I?" Emily asked, deciding that 'I asked you to come out of politeness, because I didn't think you would actually be able to come' was not a good idea despite it being the truth.

Katie shook her head again, letting a deep breath out through her nose, "It would've been nice to know that we would be staying with who you declared the love of your life." The woman shot back, not in the mood to deal with Emily dancing around the situation.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Emily asked, her own anger rising, despite her feeling like she didn't have much of a right to be.

"Maybe start by telling the truth for once!" Katie exclaimed, "I asked you about Paige." She said, "You said she was just an ex you dated Emily. You said it was nothing serious."

Emily sighed, "I know but I just didn't want you to feel uncomfortable here."

"Well how do you think I feel now?" She murmured frustrated by the position she had been put in, "Do you think I'm stupid Emily? Do you really think I haven't noticed what's been going on around here?"

Emily sighed, running her hand over her face, "I don't know what you want me to say."

Katie huffed out in annoyance, "You're still in love with her."

"Oh don't even go there." Emily snapped, whipping her head up to look at her girlfriend.

"Why not?" Katie asked, hands on her hips as she stood her ground, "Because it's the truth, something you seem to be incapable of telling?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Emily grumbled with a shake of her head.

"I don't?" Katie argued, "I had to sit there and listen to you cry over her for more than a year!" She said recalling the somewhat depressed state Emily had fallen into when she first moved to New York, "I know exactly how you feel about her."

"I'm not doing this." Emily huffed with a shake of her head, turning around and making her way to her bedroom door.

"Oh so what? You're just going to walk out on me?" Katie scoffed, "Just like you did on her huh?" She snarled.

Emily whipped around, a nasty glare on her face, "What did you just say to me?" She snarled.

"You heard me." Katie challenged, knowing it was a sore spot, "Isn't that what you did? Just walk out on her because you couldn't handle it anymore."

"Don't fucking talk about her like you know what happened between us!" Emily yelled.

Katie knew bringing it up was a low blow but she knew in her heart that this was the end for them and her anger wasn't subsiding at all, "Admit it, you're still in love with her."

Emily scoffed, turning her gaze away from Katie, "We're not going to sit here and talk about her."

"Why not!" Katie asked impatiently.

"Because what good is it?" Emily countered.

"You lied Emily." Katie stated a little more calmly, "Why would you do that if you weren't still in love with her?"

"That has nothing to do with it." Emily responded in frustration, "I lied because my life here is messed up and the last thing I needed was for you to leave me on top of everything." She admitted, her eyes threatening to let tears fall, "I finally got my life together. I finally moved on and got over everything that fucked me up so much in the first place." She choked out, swallowing the lump in her throat to the best of her ability, "I'm sorry I lied. I'm sorry that I've somehow managed to screw up so much between us in a matter of days. I just…I can't go back to how things were."

Emily now had tears freely flowing down her face, wiping at her eyes with the sleeves of the sweatshirt she had on. Katie bit her lip, still angry but not being able to stop herself form movie over towards Emily and pulling her into her arms.

"You're going to be okay Em." Katie promised, only receiving another sob from Emily who had her head buried into her girlfriend's chest.

Katie pulled away slightly when Emily's tears slowed and she succeeded in calming her breathing. Katie put her hands on Emily's shoulders, squeezing them lightly and ducking her head to look Emily in the eye, "I think you need some space and time to figure this all out." She said softly.

Emily shook her head, sniffling as she reached out to put her hands on Katie's waist, "Please don't go." She begged, "I need you."

Katie shook her head, a sad smile pulling at the edges of her lips, "You never needed me." She said, leaning in a pressing a light kiss on Emily's cheek, "You're strong Emily. You'll get through whatever this is."

Emily didn't even bother to listen to the words of reassurance, instead tightening her grip on the other woman's waist, "I need you." She repeated as she stared back into tear filled eyes.

Katie ducked her head, taking in a shaky breath, "You have her here." She forced out, "Take some time to figure this whole thing out and hey if you decide it's me you want in the end, well you'll know where to find me." She said, reaching up to wipe at Emily's tear stained cheeks clumsily.

"I love you." Emily sobbed.

"I know." Katie said with a soft smile, "But not as much as you love her."

Emily simply moved closer, burying her head in her now ex-girlfriend's neck and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. Katie reciprocated, closing her eyes tightly and wrapping her arms around Emily, trying to keep herself together. They only stood there for a moment more before Katie pulled back a little and kissed Emily softly, dragging it out for a while before pulling away.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Emily asked, her voice rough and quiet.

Katie nodded, "You and I both know that it's what's best."

Emily nodded and helped Katie pack the few things that weren't in her suitcase anymore unenthusiastically. It only took them a few minutes before Katie's stuff was sitting next to Emily's bedroom door.

"I can give you a ride." Emily offered but Katie shook her head.

"I already called a cab." She said, "Should be here any minute."

Emily nodded and helped Katie carry her things downstairs. They waited for a moment before the cab pulled up to the house and they made their way to the sidewalk in front of the curb, the taxi driver loading Katie's stuff as the two girls said their goodbyes.

"I hope everything works out Emily. Really." Katie said genuinely, pushing a strand of hair behind the woman's ear, "I just want you to be happy Em."

Emily nodded, holding back her emotions to the best of her ability, "I'm so sorry." She managed, "I'm going to miss you."

Katie nodded sadly, "I'll miss you too." She whispered, opening the cab door, "Maybe I'll see you around when you come back to New York?"

Emily nodded, "Of course." She said leaning forward to capture Katie's lips one last time.

"Bye Em." Katie said as she sank down into the backseat and shut the door.

Emily wiped her eyes as she watched the cab pull away from the curb and disappear down the street. She dropped her head forward and took a shaky breath as the tears started back up again, wondering why she could seem to get anything right in her life. She looked down the empty street one more time before turning around and heading back into the house and up to her room. She closed her bedroom door behind her and kicked her shoes off before pulling the hood of the sweatshirt over her head and crawling under the covers of her bed, letting her tears fall freely, sobs wracking her body slightly as she buried her head into her pillow.

A couple of hours later a soft knock rattled her door, making her eyes flutter open slowly, "Emily?" The voice called lightly, "Katie?"

Emily closed her eyes as the name reached her ears but got herself together quickly when the door cracked open slightly and her mother came into view, pushing the door open wider when she saw Emily sit up.

"Hey honey, I was just checking in."

Emily forced a smile on her face, pushing the hood off her head and rubbing her eyes softly, "Sorry, I must have fallen asleep."

Pam's eyes widened slightly at the roughness of Emily's vice, her eyes scanning Emily's face, immediately noticing her swollen eyes, "Is everything okay honey?" She asked, moving to Emily's bed and sitting on the side of it next to her daughter who instantly moved closer.

"Katie had to leave." She said, her mom wrapping an arm around her shoulder as Emily curled into her side, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Is everything between you two okay?" Pam asked cautiously, running her hand up and down Emily's arm in comfort.

"We broke up." Emily barely managed to get out.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Emily." She said sympathetically although she couldn't say that she was that surprised at the turn of events.

Emily pulled away from her mom so she could look at her, "Do you think maybe we could just keep this between us for a little while?" She asked.

Pam nodded and gave the girl a sympathetic smile, "Of course." She promised softly, running her hand through Emily's messy hair.

"Thank you." Emily said.

Pam nodded, squeezing Emily one more time before standing up, "Why don't you jump in the shower." The older woman suggested, "Clean yourself up a little and relax. Maybe it'll make you feel a little better."

Emily nodded, "Um, yeah. Yeah that sounds nice." She agreed, forcing another smile.

Pam looked down at her daughter with a little worry, "Your dad and brother are barbequing tonight. But no rush okay. Come down whenever you're ready."

Emily nodded, "Thank you mom."

"Of course dear." Pam said, leaning down to place a kiss on the top of Emily's head, "I love you." She added before moving out of the room.

Emily took her time. Standing in the shower until the water was so cold that she physically couldn't anymore. She came out and wrapped a towel around herself, wiping the fogged up mirror with a towel and looking at herself. She sighed, she looked a mess. She washed her face one more time before drying it off and walking out of the bathroom without a second thought.

She came out of the bathroom and turned to walk towards her room with her head down causing her to instantly smack into someone, "Sorry." She mumbled, lifting her head up, "I wasn't paying attention." She said, dropping her head back down as soon as she saw it was Paige.

Paige cleared her throat, quickly removing her hands form the damp towel where she had reached out to stabilize Emily when she ran into her, "Yeah, no sorry I wasn't paying attention either." She said awkwardly.

Emily looked up at Paige when she didn't move only to catch Paige's eyes roaming down her body. Emily shifted slightly, embarrassment making a small blush creep up her cheeks as she moved her hand up to grip the top of the towel tightly against her chest.

Paige's eyes shot up to meet Emily's gaze when the other woman cleared her throat to get her attention, her eyes widening slightly at the realization that she had been caught, "I was just. My room. It's that way." Paige rambled nervously as she pointed towards her room.

Emily couldn't help the tug on the corners of her lips, "I know." She said, "Your room has been in the same place since we were 16."

Paige nodded rapidly, "Right." She said bringing her hand up to scratch nervously at the back of her neck, "I'm just gonna…" She trailed off pointing over Emily who stepped to the side to let Paige pass her.

"Hey Paige?" Emily called, making the other girl turn around, "You didn't go too hard on Sam did you?"

"What?" Paige asked confused.

"I was just assuming you went to talk to her after we talked." Emily said, "I just hope what she told me didn't cause any problems between you two."

"Oh no." Paige waved off Emily's concern, "I'm not mad at her." The brunette said casually before shrugging and shoving her hands in her pockets, "I mean maybe I was a little upset but I'm kind of glad it's out there. She was just trying to help." She said with a shrug.

Emily nodded, "Okay." She said with a nod, "I'm going to…" Emily pointed at her bedroom door much like Paige had just previously done.

Emily turned around with one last tight lipped smile, Paige's eyes following her until the woman disappeared into the bedroom. The brunette dropped her head back and closed her eyes, sighing as she tried to get the image of Emily walking away in nothing but a towel out of her head, which was proving to be harder than she had expected.

Paige moved towards her room and slipped in, closing the door behind her. She quickly pulled her phone out of her back pocket as she dropped down onto the bed and called Sam.

"You literally just left my apartment Paige." Sam somewhat greeted causing a small smile to creep on Paige's face.

"What can I say I'm attached." Paige responded.

"What do you want?" Sam asked, Paige being able to hear the soft laugh that followed the firm question.

"Wayne and Derek are grilling tonight," she said biting her lip, "You want to come over?"

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line that let Paige know the blonde was wary of the invitation, "I don't know if that's the best idea."

"Oh come on, I don't want to have to spend my night sitting awkwardly with Emily and her girlfriend." Paige complained, unaware that Katie had left.

Paige heard Sam's heavy sigh and smiled knowing the woman was about to give in, "Fine but I'm only coming because of the food."

Paige laughed, "I'll take what I can get. Be here around 6?"

"Sure. See you then."

Paige nodded before hanging up the phone and tossing it off to the side just as her bedroom door swung open revealing Derek.

"Hey sis." Derek greeted with a goofy smile causing Paige to roll her eyes.

"What's up?"

"Oh nothing." Derek said, dropping himself down on the bed next to Paige, "Word on the street is your two girlfriends brawled it out on the street in town today. That true?"

Paige shoved Derek, "No." She simply answered but Derek's teasing smirk remained on his face, his eyebrow simply raising unconvinced, "Wait did they? Who did you hear that from?" Paige asked with a disbelieving chuckle.

"Tyler was working at the café this morning and he saw them going at it right outside."

"Tyler is always exaggerating things." Paige said waving off the accusation, "Sam and Emily talked but I doubt they 'went at it.'" She said lifting her hands to put quotations around her last few words.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Derek disagreed, "Emily is the jealous type."

"She has a girlfriend and it's not me." Paige said with a shrug, "She has no reason to be jealous. Her and Sam worked things out."

Derek scoffed as he got up off the bed, "Whatever you say."

"By the way Sam is coming over for dinner tonight." Paige said causing Derek to widen his eyes slightly.

"Oh this is going to be the greatest night ever."

"Go away." Paige grumbled annoyed.

Derek laughed as Paige grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him towards the door, shoving him out of it and closing the door again. She let her mind wander to the thoughts of Emily and Sam. Maybe they weren't on as good terms as she assumed. Was inviting her a bad idea. She just thought with Katie around Sam would be a good buffer but maybe it would just make things worse.

She sighed shaking her head. No. She wasn't going to accommodate to Emily anymore. They were going to try to be civil and act normal around each other so that's what she was going to do and if Emily wasn't here then she would've invited Sam so she wasn't going to go and feel bad about it.

A few hours later the day had winded down. Wayne and Derek had started up the girl on the back patio while Pam had a few dishes on the stove. Paige taking it upon herself to start a small fire in the backyard to sit around now that the sun was sinking down and the chill in the air had grown substantially.

Sam showed up, letting herself through the fence on the side of the house and into the backyard as Paige had instructed her too.

"Sammy!" Derek greeted with a smile.

Sam shook her head, "Derek." She greeted with a single nod of her head.

"Leave her alone Derek." Paige said as she came up behind him and smack his head lightly.

"Ow." Derek joked, rubbing his head mocking pain, "Unnecessary." He stated.

Paige and Sam both laughed, "He just wants to watch you and Emily fight each other." Paige claimed with a shake of her head.

"Paige!" The brunette whipped her head around when she heard Pam calling her name, the older woman's head peeking out the back door, "Can you come help me for a second please."

"I'll be right back." Paige said to Sam as she moved towards the house, leaving Sam and Derek alone.

"So what's up with you and Em hanging out today?" Derek asked nosily.

"I wouldn't call it hanging out." Sam said with a sigh, "She ran into me this morning and freaked out a little bit over me and Paige."

"Shocking." Derek said sarcastically.

Sam looked away a smile playing on her lips, "I was nice and I took her back to my apartment and we talked a little."

"What are you trying to do play matchmaker?" Derek scoffed, "They're not getting back together."

Sam shrugged, a smug look on her face, "Oh we'll see about that."

"Why do you look so…mischievous?" Derek asked, eyeing the girl in front of him questioningly.

"I got a little trick up my sleeve." Sam said with a wink, before moving past Derek as she saw Paige come back out over his shoulder.

Derek turned around, his eyes following her, "That's all?" he asked impatiently, "You're not even going to tell me?"

Sam threw a laugh over her shoulder, "Wait and see." She said, reaching Paige who was eyeing the two suspiciously.

"Everything okay?" Paige asked warily, eyebrow raised curiously.

Sam nodded, "Yeah." She said with a wide smile, grabbing Paige's hand and dragging her towards the fire burning a few feet away, "Come on."

Paige let herself be dragged to the fire, unconsciously looking around for any sign of Emily who had still yet to come down from her room. Her and Sam dropped down in a pair of the chairs that were placed around the fire, it only taking a minute for Paige to relax and engaging in mindless conversation with the blonde.

The sun finally had fully disappeared completely and everyone appeared to be having a good time but Paige couldn't help but notice that Emily was still nowhere to be found. Paige sighed looking over her shoulder and scanning the yard quickly. She couldn't tell you how many times she had unconsciously done it at this point, she had lost count herself.

But this time she finally caught site of Emily moving around just inside the house, through the window peeking into the house. Paige let her eyes linger but it only lasted a second before Emily was completely out of her sight.

"Hey you okay?" Sam asked, reaching over and lightly dropping her hand onto Paige's knee, grabbing the brunette's attention.

Paige nodded, offering a small smile to reassure her she was fine.

Paige looked over at the fire, her leg bouncing nervously, her body being very aware of Sam's hand on her knee, thumb moving back and forth, grazing her jeans softly. It wasn't that the touch was unwelcome or even that she didn't like it but knowing Emily was somewhere near, most likely in seeing distant by now made her anxiety rise.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked again, leaning to whisper it in Paige's ear.

Paige turned her head slowly, Sam's face much closer than she expected it to be, "Yeah." Paige responded with another small reassuring smile, this time trying to be more convincing. She turned her gaze back to the fire in front of them but her head snapped back to look at Sam abruptly when she felt the blonde's lips press quickly to her jaw.

"Sam!" She reprimanded in a whisper.

Sam chuckled at Paige's reaction, amused when Paige's eyes darted around the yard to see if anyone had seen, "Relax." Sam said, running her hand lightly up and down Paige's thigh in long, slow strides.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Trust me." Sam said, her eyes flickering over Paige's shoulder for a short second before landing back on Paige's eyes, "Don't freak out. She's watching."

"Wh-" Paige was cut off when Sam leaned in and attached their lips in a brief kiss, her hand coming up to grip Paige's neck lightly, her thumb grazing Paige's jaw.

"You're shameless." Derek interrupted, coming up behind them and making them break apart. Derek holding out a beer to a now smirking Sam.

Sam removed her hand from Paige's neck and leaned back over into her own chair, leaving plenty of room between them as she turned to look at Derek, "Please I have enjoyed tormenting Emily Fields since that party in high school where I kissed Paige and she freaked out." She admitted, taking the beer from Derek.

"Oh man, remember that night." He said, laughing as he pointed at Paige, "Emily locked her out of the house."

Paige scoffed ignoring the kiss that just happened between her and Sam, "I didn't even do anything." She said remembering the night, "I had to wait an hour and a half in the freezing cold before your parents got home and let me in."

"She forgave you." Sam dismissed.

"I didn't even do anything!" Paige argued, "It was your fault. You're the one who made her mad. I didn't want to kiss you."

"Ouch." Sam said before biting her lip guiltily, "I didn't know she was the jealous type at the time." Sam said, "It was just an innocent game of spin the bottle." She said recalling the night with the other two…

 _"_ _I'm going to go to the bathroom." Emily said, letting go of the grip she had on Paige's arm, "And then I'm going to grab another drink. Want one?"_

 _Paige nodded, "Sure. Thanks." Paige pecked Emily's lips before her girlfriend disappeared down a hallway._

 _"_ _McCullers you have to get in on this." One of the girl's form the swim team yelled towards her form across the room, "Come on."_

 _Paige got up from the couch and followed the girl into the next room, immediately realizing what she was talking about when her eyes landed on a group of teens in a circle on the floor, an empty beer bottle sitting in the middle of them._

 _Paige shook her head with a chuckle, "No way dude." She said to her friend, "I have a girlfriend."_

 _"_ _I don't see her." A voice challenged from the circle grabbing Paige's attention._

 _Paige smirked and shook her head, "What? Think you'll get lucky and land on me." Paige teased harmlessly, recognizing the new girl in town easily._

 _They had been hanging out a lot lately. Mostly in classes that they shared and sometimes at lunch if Emily was busy doing something for class or if she was off with her friends._

 _"_ _Maybe." Sam said, sending a wink to Paige, "Scared?"_

 _Paige scoffed, "You know I'm not." She said pulling off her jacket and tossing it over the back of a chair before dropping down in the circle next to Sam, "One spin is all you get and then I'm out Sammy."_

 _"_ _Well let's hope fate is on my side tonight then." Sam flirted._

 _"_ _Paige?" The brunette turned around to see Emily standing in the entryway of the room with two cups in her hands, "What are you doing?"_

 _"_ _Don't worry Em," Paige reassured her girlfriend, "They convinced me to sit in but only for one spin to get them to leave me alone."_

 _Emily nodded her head warily, her eyes scanning the people in the circle but stopping on one person in particular. The blonde had only been at their school for about a month but hated the way her and Paige had become fast friends. Emily didn't like the looks that Sam had been throwing at Paige for the last few weeks and how she shamelessly flirted with Paige right in front of her, clearly having a crush on the brunette._

 _"_ _Ready?" Sam didn't bother to wait for an answer, reaching for the bottle and spinning it enthusiastically, "Well would you look at that." She said as it came to a stop on Paige who looked down at the bottle in the middle._

 _"_ _W-what? "Paige continued to stare disbelievingly, "How the hell did you do that?"_

 _"_ _Fate." Sam said with a wink._

 _Paige chuckled nervously, her hand coming up to rub at the back of her neck nervously as she looked over her shoulder at Emily who had her eyes narrowed at Sam._

 _"_ _No way dude." Paige backed out, starting to stand up but the girl who had led her to the room in the first place laughed as she pushed Paige back down into her previously seated position._

 _"_ _You're not getting out of this one McCullers."_

 _"_ _Yeah McCullers." Sam said from beside her daringly, putting an emphasis on Paige's last name, "It's just an innocent kiss."_

 _Paige swallowed hard as she looked around her. A couple dozen eyes staring at her, clearly enjoying the situation as they egged her on. Paige was about to protest but Sam had grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her into a kiss before she got it out._

 _Paige let it happen briefly before she pulled away and smiled down at Sam, "Okay, okay you got what you wanted." She said with a small chuckle as she stood up, "Everything you dreamed of?" She asked teasingly._

 _"_ _Now I see why Emily is so territorial." Sam said._

 _Paige turned around to chuckle at her girlfriend but the girl wasn't standing in the doorway anymore, "Looks like someone's in trouble." Someone muttered form the other side of the room._

 _Paige sighed and moved out of the room in a hurry, "Hey have any of you seen Emily?" She asked a group of people outside right outside of the room._

 _The guy pointed towards the front door, Paige offering a quick 'thanks' before jogging out of the room. She stopped on the patio and looked around, a couple of people hanging out on the porch, one of the girls pointing her in Emily's direction. Paige got to the street and looked in the direction she was given and saw Emily walking down the sidewalk, already over a block away._

 _Paige started running towards the girl, grabbing her by the shoulders when she reached her, "Hey wait up."_

 _Emily shrugged out of Paige's grip, "Leave me alone."_

 _"_ _Em?" Paige protested, "Come on, you can't seriously be mad at me."_

 _"_ _Are you kidding me what's wrong with you?" Emily said, shoving Paige away from her when the brunette tried to reach out for her again._

 _"_ _It was just a game." Paige said, backing off a little, "It doesn't mean anything. What's the big deal?"_

 _Emily narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend, "Okay so then it's not a big deal if I go back to that party and kiss someone then?" Emily asked, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance._

 _Paige rolled her eyes, "It was a game."_

 _"_ _A game? Okay." Emily turned on her heels and started walking back towards the house they had just come from._

 _"_ _Where are you going?" Paige called out, not moving from her spot._

 _"_ _I saw Adam at the party. Maybe he's interested in joining a game of spin the bottle with me." She said without even turning around to look at her girlfriend._

 _Paige caught up to Emily and grabbed her wrist turning her around, "Seriously Emily?"_

 _"_ _What, it's just a game."_

 _"_ _That guy is a douchebag." Paige grumbled angrily, "And he's always hitting on you. It's creepy."_

 _"_ _And Sam isn't always doing the exact same thing?" Emily argued._

 _"_ _Come on Emily, we're just friends." Paige said, trying to get her girlfriend to calm down, "Adam's just a creep and he's not going anywhere near you."_

 _"_ _Oh so you're allowed to do whatever you want but I'm not?"_

 _Paige sighed, "It's not like that Em."_

 _Emily scoffed, pulling her hand free from Paige's grasp, "I'm going home." She said walking past Paige and making her way down the street._

 _Paige sighed again, waiting a moment before sticking her hands in her pocket and walking in the same direction as Emily a few feet behind her._

 _"_ _Stop following me." Emily said, being able to hear Paige's footsteps behind her._

 _"_ _We live in the same house." Paige argued calmly._

 _Emily ignored her response, walking the rest of the way to the Field's house without another word. She pulled her key out when she got to the front porch and unlocked the front door quickly, slipping in and shutting the door behind her and locking it._

 _"_ _Hey!" She heard Paige yell before a loud bang sounded on the door, "Emily I'm not joking let me in."_

 _Emily ignored her as she slipped out of her jacket and hung it on the hook on the wall by the front door, "Emily I'm serious, I left my jacket at the party and it's freezing!"_

 _"_ _Go back then!" Emily responded loudly, "Maybe Sam will keep you warm." She responded pettily._

 _Paige banged on the door a few more times, "Emily, I'm sorry!" She called, before sighing and sliding down the door. Sitting on the ground and leaning back against the door, "Fuck." She mumbled under her breath, slipping her hands between her thighs to warm them up._

 _Back inside Derek had come down the stairs after hearing the banging, "Don't you dare let her in." Emily said sternly, pointing her finger at him._

 _"_ _What happened?" Derek asked, seeing the anger clear on his sister's face._

 _"_ _Nothing." Emily said, moving to sit on the couch. She put her heads in her hand and sighed._

 _Derek came up behind her and put his hand on her back, rubbing it soothingly, "You okay?"_

 _"_ _Why does she have to be so stupid?" Emily asked rhetorically, "And who the hell does that new girl think she is?! Ugh I can't stand her! And you should've seen her after she kissed Paige. So fucking smug."_

 _"_ _You're not going to make me kill Paige are you?" Derek asked teasingly, figuring that Paige wasn't going to get out of this one easily. He already had to hear Emily complain about the blonde who had started hanging around Paige recently plenty of times._

 _A breathy, barely there laugh escaped Emily's lips as she looked up at her brother, "No." She said Derek sinking down to hug her tightly, "But make her sit out there for a little bit longer okay?" She said releasing her brother and standing up, "I'm pissed at her."_

 _"_ _Yikes." Derek mumbled to himself as he watched his sister storming up the stairs. He glanced towards the door guiltily, knowing Paige was sitting on the other side but he sighed and went back upstairs deciding not to get in the middle of it._

 _Roughly an hour later, which felt like much more to Paige, Pam and Wayne pulled into the driveway, the headlights flicking across the porch as they pulled in letting relief settle into Paige as she stood up thankfully. Pam reached her first, instantly noticing the guilty look on Paige's face, "What are you doing out here honey?"_

 _"_ _Forgot my key." Paige said truthfully._

 _Pam eyed her, looking back at her husband as he came up behind her before looking back at Paige, "Where is Emily? Derek should be inside too."_

 _"_ _Umm yeah they are." Paige said, looking down at her feet nervously, "Me and Emily umm, we got into a fight."_

 _Pam sighed, letting Wayne pass her and Paige to unlock the front door. Pam draped her arm over Paige's shoulders and pulled her closer, "God honey you're freezing." Pam said concerned as she ran her hand up and down Paige's arm…_

"Okay I guess it was kind of my fault." Sam said with a slight cringe, "But in my defense you didn't have to play."

"Shut up." Paige laughed, "You knew what you were doing."

Sam shrugged, "I laid off after that." She said with a laugh.

"Umm hey." Emily said coming up behind them, causing the three around the fire to straighten up, "Dinner's done." She said weakly before turning around and walking back to the house.

Sam, Paige, and Derek watched her go back into the house. Standing up and following the girl.

"Well that wasn't the most awkward moment of my life." Sam mumbled.

"It's about to get worse." Derek said quietly leaning closer to Sam so Paige wouldn't hear.

"Grab a plate everyone." Pam offered kindly once they all reached the kitchen.

Everyone did as instructed and moved around the kitchen, sitting around the large table once they had their plates. It however didn't go unnoticed how Emily didn't have a plate of food and was still standing uncomfortably off to the side.

"I'm really not feeling that good." Emily mumbled weakly when she noticed everyone's eyes land on her curiously, "I think I'm just going to call it a night."

"Emily?" Pam asked warily.

"No, really mom." Emily reassured with a small smile, "I'm fine. I just want to go to bed."

"Is Katie coming down?" Derek asked unknowingly, "I haven't seen that girl all day."

Emily swallowed nervously, shifting slightly before running her hand through her hair so she had something to do with her hands, "She actually had to go back to New York for work." Emily said, leaving out the part that they broke up.

Everyone but Pam looked around a little surprised by that.

"She had to leave earlier today when everyone was out." Emily continued, "She felt bad that she couldn't say goodbye but you know how it is when you get called into work. She's crazy busy." Emily said casually.

"Okay." Pam said, breaking the uncomfortable silence settling over the kitchen, "Go ahead. I'll leave you a plate in the fridge in case you change your mind later tonight."

"Thanks mom." Emily said to the older woman before looking around the table, "Goodnight." She said with a small awkward wave as she turned to walk out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

Paige frowned at this, "Excuse me." She said as she stood up, eyeing the stairs.

"Paige." Sam said, grabbing her arm to stop her, "Are you sure you shouldn't give her a little space?" The blonde asked cautiously, not sure what Paige was going to do.

"I just want to talk to her real quick." Paige said, pulling out of Sam's hold easily and taking the steps two at a time when she reached the stairs.

Everyone at the table looked at each other for a moment, them all taking it in.

"Mom?" Derek asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Pam asked, putting a spoonful of food into her mouth.

"You're the worst liar on the planet." Derek stated, "Right next to Paige. So save us all the time and tell us what you know."

Pam sighed feeling bad. She wanted to keep the secret that Emily had trusted her with but at the same time she knew they'd just get it out of her eventually anyways, "Katie and her broke up. That's why she left."

"Yes!" Sam exclaimed as Derek groaned and dropped his head down against the table.

Pam rolled her eyes while her husband just smiled at the two across form him, "Behave you two." Pam said, "You shouldn't be betting on their love life."

"Years of buildup." Sam said as Derek picked his head up, "It took a few years but damn if it wasn't the easiest hundred bucks I've ever made."

"They aren't together yet." Derek argued, "Don't get to high on your horse."

"Please," Wayne interrupted, "A single Paige and a single Emily under the same roof." He paused briefly, "I bet they'll be back together by the end of the week."

"Wayne!" Pam scolded.

"What that's what I think." Wayne defended, causing the table to fall into laughter.

"I'll take you up on that one dad." Derek said, sticking out his hand to his father, "No way they get back together in a week. Emily is too proud to make it that easy."

Sam nodded, "Same with Paige." She agreed.

Wayne shook Derek's hand anyway, "fifty bucks?"

"You're on." Derek agreed, "I almost feel bad for taking your money like that old man." Derek teased.

"You should really know your daughters better than that Mr. Fields." Sam joined in.

"Alright enough you three." Pam jumped in, putting an end to it all, "Eat up before it gets cold. And leave those two alone. Let them figure it out themselves."

Upstairs Paige had gently knocked on Emily's door, "Hey Em?"

Emily sat up on her bed surprised, staring at the door. She hadn't heard Paige call her that in so long that it sounded weird coming from her so soft like that.

Emily shook her head and cleared her throat, "Come in."

Paige cracked the door open and poked her head into the room, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Emily nodded and Paige moved into the room completely, closing the door softly behind her, choosing to stand by the door instead of moving any closer to Emily.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked.

Emily nodded, putting a fake smile on her face, "Of course. Like I said I just don't feel that good."

Paige sighed and looked away for a moment, "I know when you're lying Emily."

Emily frowned at the way Paige had said her name. Firm and with accusation behind it. She already missed the softness of the nickname that had slipped from Paige's lips just seconds before.

"I thought we were going to act normal around each other." Paige said, "So talk to me. I know something's wrong."

Emily dropped her chin down to her chest. She could feel the tears threatening to poor out of her eyes and the last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of Paige over her breakup. She was so focused on what she was going to say and trying to stop her eyes from filling with water that she didn't notice Paige getting closer until the bed dipped down beside her.

Emily looked up and turned her head to the side to see Paige staring at her intensely. Paige gave her a sad smile and Emily felt the first tear fall down her face unwillingly.

"What happened?" Paige asked softly, her heart clenching at the sight of Emily in front of her. Angry at herself for letting Emily still affect her in such a way.

"We broke up." Emily let out in a whimpered whisper, dropping her head again, not being able to look at Paige.

Paige felt bad that a part of her felt relief. Relief that someone else didn't have their hands on Emily anymore. That someone that wasn't her was kissing the girl goodnight in the same room that she had done it in so many times before. It was selfish. And stupid. Childish even but Paige couldn't help the small tug of hopefulness in her heart.

Paige hesitantly put her arm around Emily's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. She felt Emily tense under her and considered pulling her arm back to herself but decided against it when she felt the girl relax a little after a moment. Emily leaned into her and let her tears fall.

Paige leaned in close and rested her head against Emily's. She stared straight ahead at the wall in front of them trying to remember the last time she had even been in this room. It had been years. She couldn't even be in this room without feelings that she didn't want to think about came rushing back to her. She had no reason to ever be in the room and now being back in here so suddenly was doing something to her. Nostalgia was hitting her and having Emily leaning into her and her welcoming it wasn't helping.

She doesn't know what made her do it but before she realized what she was doing she was placing a light kiss to the top of Emily's head. It only lasting a brief moment but as soon as her lips made contact with Emily's head, she felt the girl next to her stop breathing for a second.

Paige wondered if she went too far when Emily lifted her head and pulled back just enough to look up at Paige. Paige swallowed hard, her hands becoming sweaty when Emily lifted her hand to graze the side of the brunette's face.

"Emily?" Paige said softly, it barely being audible but Emily was so close she could hear it perfectly. She didn't know what was happening.

"I didn't love her." Emily admitted quietly, almost shamefully as her thumb ran softly across Paige's cheek, "Not like I loved you."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys! I know I'm uploading a day later than I usually do, I hope you didn't mind waiting an extra day. I had midterms this week so I was REALLY busy. Anyway, as always please feel free to let me know what you think of the chapter, it's so fun to hear all of your differing thoughts and opinions. This chapter starts off right where the last one ended. Hope you all enjoy :)**

She stopped breathing. Emily could feel it.

She could see it in the brunette's face as she paled, the color slowly draining.

Emily continued to run her thumb softly against the woman's cheek, the small touch reminding Emily that this was real. Paige was in front of her. She could feel the admittance that she had never stopped loving Paige on the verge of coming off her tongue but she quickly swallowed it down.

"Paige?" Emily tried to get the woman's attention. She needed her to say something. React in any way at all. The silence was making her anxious and she couldn't take it anymore.

"Y-yeah." Paige let out in a shaky whisper absentmindedly.

She couldn't focus. Emily was too close to her and hearing her confess that she didn't love Katie as much as she had loved her once was a lot for her. She didn't know what she was supposed to do with that information. What Emily was trying to accomplish by letting her in on this detail of her life.

"Can you please say something?" Emily asked nervously.

She wasn't expecting much from the brunette. Emily's intentions weren't malicious. She had ultimately ended up telling the woman that because she felt she owed it to Paige somehow. She was tired of lying. Of being the person who danced around her problems. She just wanted to tell the truth for once and the truth was that she never stopped loving Paige. No matter where she was, who she was with, it was always Paige.

Emily was torn out of her thoughts when Paige's hand made contact with her forearm. Paige softly wrapping her fingers around Emily's arm and softly tugging it down, forcing Emily to remove her hand from Paige's cheek. Emily let her head fall slightly, her eyes landing on Paige's fingers still wrapped around her arm. The touch grounding her once again.

"It's been a long day." Paige's voice snapped Emily's head up. Their eyes meeting, neither woman looking away from the other.

Emily nodded, "Yeah." She whispered truthfully but finding it hard to look away from Paige's eyes.

Paige stayed rooted in her spot, her eyes dropping from Emily's eyes to her lips for a fraction of a second. Had they been sitting this close the whole time Paige wondered. Moving her eyes back up to Emily's, wetting her lips only to notice Emily's eyes flicker down to the movement and she could feel herself leaning in closer to Emily but stopped herself. She couldn't go there right now.

"You should get some sleep." Paige said as she cleared her throat awkwardly, giving Emily's arm a reassuring squeeze before she pulled her hand away and put a little distance between them.

Emily immediately missed the contact, "I'm sorry." She said, sensing that Paige was a little uncomfortable, suddenly wondering now if this was all too much.

"For what?" Paige asked.

Emily knew there were a million ways she could've answered that question so she decided to put it out there and be honest.

"I know this is a lot." She acknowledged, "And I know I don't have a right to say these things anymore," Emily continued, trying to get it all out before she lost her courage, "but being here again. Seeing you again. It's brought a lot of things up inside of me. Made me think about a lot of things lately that I haven't thought about in a really long time."

"Emily-" Paige tried to jump in.

She didn't know what Emily was getting at but she wasn't sure if she could handle hearing any of it because she felt like she knew what was coming. And she was afraid that hearing it would bring up a lot of stuff for herself.

She knew it would.

Because what Emily was feeling, she was feeling it too. Just being in her presence made her feel it. How a simply touch or a simply glance at Emily could make her go back to what they used to be. Made her crave what they used to have. What she could still feel between them. Like no time had passed since they were in love with each other.

"It's true." Emily said, not letting Paige interrupt her, "Nobody compares to you. I don't want anyone to." She admitted honestly, "Ever." She added for emphasis, "We may not be together and when I left I may not have been happy but I've never loved anyone like you." Emily paused briefly to take a deep breathe before letting it out, "I don't think I ever will."

Paige swallowed hard, feeling a little overwhelmed, "I uh…I think I should go." She said as she stood up from the bed abruptly suddenly feeling dizzy.

"Paige, wait." Emily stopped her, standing up as Paige moved towards the door.

Paige closed her eyes tightly, she didn't want to look at Emily. She couldn't.

"It's fine Emily." Paige said, putting her hand up to stop Emily from coming any closer, "You and your girlfriend just broke up and like I said, it's just…it's been a really long day with everything that's happened." Paige explained rapidly, "You're emotional and heartbroken or whatever. I just, I think you should get some rest and sleep on it before you start saying shit like that to me out of the blue." She said much harsher than she intended, her own emotions getting the best of her.

Emily nodded, taking a moment to push the lump forming in her throat down. It may have been years since they had seen each other but Emily knew when to quit when it came to Paige so she simply agreed, "Okay."

Paige let out a stressful sigh, being able to hear the hesitance and hurt in Emily's voice despite the other girl clearly trying to hold it back, "I'm sorry." She said, chancing a glance at Emily but the raven haired girl was simply staring at her own feet.

Emily only nodded, exhaustion falling over her. She dint have it in her to fight right now.

Paige let her gaze linger on Emily for a moment longer before she turned and opened the bedroom door, making her way out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. She let her back rest against the closed door and tried to collect herself. She didn't know what to think about the exchange her and Emily just had. She didn't know what it meant for them. Where it was supposed to take them.

The only thing she could think about is how she needed to get out of this house. She needed to get some air and separate herself from Emily for a moment. So she pulled herself together the best she could and turned towards the stairs, taking them slowly knowing that everyone downstairs would question what happened. Paige rounded the corner and was immediately met with Pam's eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Pam asked, being the first person to notice Paige come back into the room.

"Yep. Everything is great. Perfect, really." Paige said as cheerfully as she could muster but failing miserably, her voice coming off as sarcastic and bitter, "I'm just going to head out for a bit. Forgot, there's this thing I have to do." She lied, grabbing her keys and heading towards the front door.

Pam, Wayne, Derek, and Sam all glanced nervously at each other momentarily before Sam sighed and dropped her fork down onto her plate, standing up out of her chair.

"I'll make sure she's okay." Sam offered with a small smile, "Thank you so much for having me over for dinner."

"Anytime Samantha." Pam said kindly. Wayne and Derek both offered smiles and a 'goodbye' as Sam followed the path Paige had just taken out of the house.

Sam quickly made her way down the driveway and towards Paige's truck that was sitting next to the curb, headlights shining bright in the dark. She knocked on the window of the passenger's side grabbing Paige's attention who sighed in annoyance before rolling down the window.

"What?" Paige asked, "I'm fine, you don't have to follow me."

"You really aren't going to let me in the truck?" Sam asked, trying to sound offended, "You know I'm not going to let you storm out of this place on your own so you either let me in or you're not leaving." She stated sternly, crossing her arms and resting them on the edge of the opened window.

Paige rolled her eyes, "I'm not a child."

"Your choice." Sam said, clearly not willing to budge.

Paige waited a few moment, hoping to smoke the girl out but when Sam showed no signed of backing down Paige groaned and unlocked the door, "Fine." She agreed, "But I don't want any of that crap you do, okay? No pitying. No lectures. And definitely no questions. Got it?"

"Got it." Sam granted halfheartedly as she clicked her seatbelt into place.

"Good." Paige said with a final nod before pulling away from the curb and driving away from the house.

It didn't take Sam long to figure out where they were going but she didn't say anything regardless of not really liking it. She tried her best to hold her tongue but they didn't get far before she broke the rules, "So what happened?" She asked casually.

Paige glance over at Sam briefly, shooting a small glare at her. She didn't respond but rather reached over and turned the radio up higher, focusing on the road in front of her instead of the person in her passenger seat.

Sam put her hands up in defense, slouching back in her seat and kicking her feet up on the dash much to Paige's annoyance, "I can't believe you're really not going to tell me what happened." Sam mumbled as she looked out her own window.

"It's none of your business." Paige grumbled back.

Sam turned her head to look at Paige in disbelief, "Considering I'm the one who picked you up off the ground and helped put your life back together the last time something happened between you and Emily, I'd say it's a little of my business." She argued, not liking that Paige was shutting her out.

"As much as I appreciate your help, I didn't ask for it." Paige said, instantly feeling bad but carrying on anyway, "I'm fine and I don't need everyone to try to take care of me like I'm going to break at any moment." She let out, gripping the steering wheel as tight as she could.

"Stop the car." Sam said as she pulled her feet off the dash and straightened up in her seat, unclicking her seat belt calmly.

"What are you doing?" Paige asked eyeing the girl curiously.

"Pull over." She replied.

"Sam are you kidding me?" Paige asked rhetorically as she pulled over to the side of the road and brought the truck to a stop, turning her body to look at Sam in time to see the blonde unlock the passenger door and open it, jumping out of the truck and onto the ground gracefully, "What are you doing?"

"You're right." Sam said, surprising Paige a little, "Maybe we get a little carried away trying to make sure you're okay. Maybe you don't need us to be paying that much attention to you anymore." The blonde admitted, "But we do it because we care about you Paige. Because you don't know how to deal with things when it comes to Emily and you have way to much pride to let someone help you when you need it."

"Look I'm sorry Sam okay?" Paige offered weakly, "Just get back in the truck."

"No!" Sam said, slamming the truck door closed for emphasis, "You don't get it do you. Every time something doesn't go your way you can't just go to the bar and forget about it, you need to deal with it."

"I'm not doing this with you right now." Paige said, shaking her head, starting the truck back up, "I told you I'm fine. Believe me or don't, I really don't care Sam. This is exactly why I didn't want to bring you in the first place. It's always a lecture with you."

"Excuse me for caring but last time we left you alone to deal with things like this on your own you almost died." Sam said, tears starting to stream down her face steadily, "Do whatever you want Paige but next time you do something stupid because you don't know how to deal with your feelings, don't call me."

Paige sighed, suddenly feeling extremely guilty. She knew that Sam's intentions were always good and she hadn't meant to hurt the blonde's feelings, "Sam I didn't mean to upset you." She offered as she rubbed at her face.

Sam shook her head, "You can go back to being Emily's problem." She said, not bothering to wait for Paige to respond, turning to walk away from the track and back towards the Field's house where her car was.

Paige groaned as she gripped the steering wheel tightly, "Stupid." She mumbled to herself, letting out a frustrated grunt before glancing into the rearview mirror, seeing Sam walking further and further away down the street. She thought about going after the blonde but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She just wanted to be alone. So she pulled back onto the road and headed for the bar. She got there fairly quickly and was happy to find that the small place wasn't very busy at all. She walked straight up to the bar and sat down waiting for the bar tender to come over to her.

"Paige!" The guy greeted happily, "Hey, I haven't seen you around here in a while."

Paige smiled at him politely, "Hey Ryan. Yeah I've been trying to lay off the alcohol a little lately."

The bar tender nodded in understanding, "So what brings you here then?" He asked, "Rough night?"

Paige scoffed, "You can say that."

"Uh oh sounds like someone has been having a little lady trouble." Ryan guessed, simply chuckling when Paige rolled her eyes, "So what can I get you? A beer? Something stronger?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Give me a couple shots of your strongest stuff."

"You got it." He said, turning to grab a bottle and a couple shot glasses, pouring them and pushing them towards Paige, "Let me know when you're ready for the next round." He said with a wink before moving back to a couple people approaching the bar a few seats down from Paige.

Paige downed the two shots immediately, the burn in her throat giving her an odd sense of comfort. She knew Sam was right, she shouldn't be here and she shouldn't be drinking again but she couldn't find it in herself to care much as she let her eyes wander around the bar.

She sighed again, resting her elbows on the bar and her head in her hands as thoughts of Emily and Sam filled her head. She let the alcohol settle in her stomach for a few minutes before calling Ryan back over for more. She just didn't want to think about anything for a little bit. Drowning out her feelings with alcohol wasn't in her best interest but in the moment it seemed like the only thing that would get it all to stop. She just wanted to numb it all, even if it was just for a second.

Across town Sam was just getting back to the Field's house, walking straight into the house, "Hi, sorry to just barge back in," Sam said sheepishly as she saw Pam glance over the back of the couch at her, "I just need to talk to Derek."

Pam nodded, "How is she?" She asked.

Sam let out a heavy sigh, running her hand through her hair, "Not good." She said blatantly causing Pam to frown.

"Hey where's Paige?" Derek asked as he entered the room, grabbing both women's attention.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Sam asked, not bothering to wait for an answer as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Pam and into the kitchen, "Paige went to the bar downtown. We got into a fight so when she calls me drunk tonight, I'll text you and you can deal with her."

Derek dropped his head back and groaned, "Sam you just left her there?"

"What do you want me to do Derek?" She said in a hushed voice, her frustration coming through clearly, "You know how she is. I don't know what your sister said to her but it was clearly too much for Paige."

"Fine." Derek agreed, "I'll go get her if she can't get herself back home."

Sam scoffed, "Please she's probably already at least four shots in already." The blonde said disapprovingly, "Don't forget I used to work there. I've served her and she isn't one who knows how to pace herself. I know how she gets and you're definitely going to have to go get her."

"Maybe I should just head over there now." Derek said worriedly, images of his mom's totaled car and Paige laying in the hospital flashing through his mind unwillingly.

"Don't worry." Sam said, quickly noticing where Derek's mind went, "I already called the bar. Ryan's working there tonight. I told him not to let her leave."

"Thank you." Derek said.

"Yeah well even though she makes my blood boil when she gets bullheaded like this, I love her just as much of the rest of you." She admitted.

Derek nodded, "Isn't it fun being a part of the Field's clan." He teased, earning a smile from Sam.

"Ugh, no." Sam answered blatantly, not skipping a beat. Turning on her heals, she walked back to the living room and said her goodbyes to Pam again before exciting the house and going home.

Derek on the other hand went upstairs and grabbed his phone from his room, trying to call Paige even though he knew he wasn't going to get an answer. He couldn't help but worry about her, but after he got her voicemail twice he tossed his phone to the side and laid down in bed, his eyes moving to the tv hanging on the wall as he waited for Sam to text him.

It took hours but eventually his cellphone buzzed and Sam's name lit up the screen with the simple words _'She called'_ followed by _'you can go get her.'_ Derek sighed when he looked at the time and saw that it was just past 2 a.m. He sent a quick text back to let Sam know he was headed to the bar now before grabbing his jacket and leaving his room.

He tried to be as quiet as he could as he moved through the house, hoping not to wake anyone up. Getting out of the house would be easy but getting Paige back in without anyone noticing would be a challenge.

"Hey where are you going?" Emily asked, noticing Derek out of the corner of her eye.

Derek snapped his head up in surprise, turning around to see his sister sitting at the kitchen table, laptop open in front of her, the dim light from the screen the only source of light in the entire room, "Em. What are you doing out here?"

Emily gave her brother a small shrug, "Couldn't sleep." Derek nodded in understanding, "So where are you going?" Emily asked, nodding her head towards the keys in Derek's hand.

Derek looked down at the keys in questions, debating if he should lie but quickly deciding that it was pointless, "Sam texted me." He admitted, "I have to go pick Paige up."

Emily put her hands on the table in front of her and pushed herself up out of her chair, narrowing her eyes at Derek in confusion, "Doesn't she have her truck?"

"She's been drinking." Derek responded honestly.

Emily dropped her head down and let out a small sigh, "I guess that one's my fault huh?"

"No Em, it's not." He reassured quickly, shaking his head softly as he gave his sister a sympathetic look. Maybe it was but he didn't want Emily to put all of the blame on herself. Paige made her own choices and this was one of them.

"And she can't stay at Sam's because?" Emily asked, "Maybe it's a good idea if she has a little space from me. When we talked earlier it didn't go so great." She said sadly as she fumbled with her fingers anxiously.

"Yeah so about that, she isn't at Sam's." Derek informed Emily, "She's at a bar downtown. Her and Sam got into some sort of fight on their way over there." He explained, "Hence why Sam called me to go get her when Paige called her drunk."

Emily ran her hand through her hair and sighed again, feeling guilty that things started to go bad again for Paige as soon as she showed back up here. She couldn't help but feel like she had a direct connection to all of it.

"What bar?" Emily asked.

Derek eyed her curiously, "Uhh, Carter's."

"Here." Emily said as she nodded knowing exactly where that was. She moved towards Derek and reached for the keys in his hand, "I'll go get her."

Derek pulled his hand back away from Emily, clutching the keys in his hand tightly, "No I really don't think that's the best idea."

"I have to help her Derek." Emily said, "You can try to convince me otherwise all you want but I know she's there right now because of me. I have to fix this and maybe tonight's not the night but I just want to make sure she's okay." Emily pleaded, "Please."

Derek looked at her, studying her face as he thought it over. He couldn't imagine how this could possibly have a positive outcome but despite his better judgment he slowly pulled the keys from behind his back and held them out towards Emily.

"Go easy on her." Derek said, looking at Emily warily, "If anything happens call me okay? I don't want her to be upset."

Emily lightly placed her hand on her little brother's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, "I promise I'll make sure she's okay."

Derek nodded, trusting his sister. He watched Emily hurriedly make her way out of the house before he made his way back upstairs and back to bed.

Emily jumped into her dad's car starting it up quickly and pulling out of the driveway and heading in the direction of downtown. With the streets being mostly vacant of any other cars Emily was able to make it there in record time, a small fear in the back of her mind that Paige wouldn't be there when she got to the bar.

She found a spot to park the car before jumping out and jogging up to the front entrance of the bar and rushing inside. She stopped in the entryway and glanced around, eventually spotting Paige slumped over slightly in a booth in the far corner of the bar. She let out a small sigh of relief that the girl was still here. Emily slowly walked towards the brunette, suddenly filled with nerves at the way Paige would react to seeing her.

"Paige." Emily said softly as she got close to the other woman, not wanting to startle her.

Paige's head shot up at such a pace that it made Emily jump slightly, "Emily?" Paige slurred somewhat distantly, the alcohol clearly clouding her mind.

"Hey." Emily said softly, lightly setting a hand on Paige's shoulder, "You ready to go home?"

"Home?" Paige asked, a blank look on her face, her mouth hanging open slightly as she stared at Emily, "With you?"

Emily nodded, "It's really late and you look pretty tired." She tried to encourage, not really knowing if Paige was going to come willingly or not.

Emily let her hand slide down Paige's arm, trying to grab her hand and pull her out of the booth but Paige retracted her hand harshly as soon as she felt Emily's fingers graze her wrist causing Emily to pull her hands back and put them up in defense.

"Okay, I won't touch you." Emily promised.

"Where's Sam?" Paige grumbled, a little out of it as her gaze remained on the table in front of her, her head heavy on her shoulders.

Emily frowned, not being able to help but feel a small ache in her chest at the fact that Paige wanted Sam over her right now. The strange feeling quickly being shaken from her head as she rested her hands down on the edge of the table, trying to keep herself from reaching out to touch Paige.

"Sam couldn't come." Emily said, "But I'm going to take you home and then you can talk to Sam in the morning, how does that sound?"

"Will she still be mad at me?" Paige asked, bringing her head up to look at Emily.

Emily bit her lip, the small drunken pout on Paige's face making her give the woman a sympathetic smile as she shook her head, "No, she won't." Emily reassured.

She didn't know if it was true or not. She didn't even know for sure why Sam and Paige were fighting in the first place but one thing she did know for sure was that telling Paige that Sam wasn't going to want to talk to her in the morning, which was a possibility, wasn't going to make getting Paige home any easier.

"She makes it better." Paige slurred absentmindedly.

Emily wasn't even sure if the brunette meant to say that out loud considering how softly it was spoken but she nodded anyway, "Well the faster you get home and in bed the sooner you can talk to her." Emily suggested, not meaning for the words to be laced with the small bite that they were.

Paige seemed to like that, nodding her head sloppily before she scooted over and out of the booth. Emily immediately reached out to steady the brunette when she went to stand up and instantly wobbled on her feet. Paige protested at first when Emily tried to slide her arm around her and help her walk herself out of the bar but it didn't take her long to give in and lean her weight heavily on Emily.

Emily tightened her hold on the woman as they walked unsteadily out of the bar and down to the car, Emily opening the passenger door and guiding Paige into the seat successfully. She closed the door with a huff, happy to have gotten Paige in the car without any problems. She walked around the car and got in, starting it up but stopping to look over at Paige for a second. She was slumped in the seat next to her, head thrown back between the window and seat in a position that would usually be uncomfortable but with her eyes closed and mouth hanging open, clearly passed out Emily figured the girl had worse problems than a kinked neck.

Emily was able to get home fast, finding herself driving a little more carefully than she had on her way to the bar not wanting to jolt Paige around too much. Once she had the car parked in the driveway and was standing outside Paige's door, she slowly opened it, Paige's head falling with the door as it opened.

"Whoa." Emily said, reaching over quickly to support Paige's head as she pulled the door all the way open. She straightened Paige up in the seat before standing up straight and peering down at the woman, groaning as she wondered how she was going to get her upstairs.

"Paige." Emily leaned down to get closer to the girl, shaking her shoulder softly trying to bring her back to consciousness, "Paige."

Paige's eyes fluttered open barely, incoherent mumbles leaving her mouth that Emily ignored, "Come on," She said trying to encourage the girl as she attempted to tug her out of the car and back up on her feet, "You have to walk."

Paige let out a stream of displeased noises as Emily continued to pull her up out of the car, letting out a pleased sigh when Paige finally helped her a little and somehow managed to push herself up. Emily instantly wrapped her arm tightly around the brunette's waist and let Paige lean on her again and she knew it wasn't possible but somehow Paige felt heavier than she had fifteen minutes ago at the bar.

Emily struggled a little to close the car door but finally managed to kick it shut and hit the button on the keys to lock the doors. She let out another huff as she basically dragged Paige to the front door and into the house, stopping at the end of the stairs to groan. It was hard enough to drag Paige on flat ground and Paige's warm heavy breath hitting the edge of her jaw and trailing down to hit her neck wasn't making anything easier.

She hadn't been this close to Paige in years and although the clear stench of alcohol was unlike Paige, the familiarity of her body against hers was stirring up things within Emily.

"Can you help me a little?" Emily asked, a tinge of annoyance in her voice as she started pulling Paige up the stairs.

Emily of course didn't get much help from Paige, her small steps causing her toes to hit the steps making Paige stumble constantly and by the time they conquered all of the stair and were standing in the hallway upstairs Emily was exhausted, "How do Sam and Derek put up with you when you're like this?" She mumbled rhetorically.

"Sam?" Paige said to Emily's surprise.

"Is not here." Emily stated blatantly as she dragged the woman down the hallway and to Paige's bedroom, opening the door and happily dropping Paige down onto the bed with a heavy thud, "Thank god." She said to herself in relief as she looked down at Paige.

Emily quickly pulled off the pair of shoes that Paige had been wearing and tossed them into the corner of the room without much thought, she momentarily considered pulling the tight jeans off of Paige so she could sleep more comfortably but for the first time in her life she felt weird about doing it so she simply pulled the comforter down and guided Paige to lay underneath it.

Once Paige was settled Emily sat on the edge of the bed next to her and ran her hand across the girl's forehead, moving her loose hair out of her face. She was surprised when Paige's eyes fluttered opened and was even more surprised when a small smile made its way onto Paige's face.

"You're pretty." Paige mumbled as her eyes fell shut again, the small grin still on her face.

Emily couldn't help the small giggle that slipped past her lips, "Thank you." She said, "Goodnight." She added, before going to stand up but Paige groaned unhappily, reaching for her blindly.

"Stay."

Emily was surprised by the word, it stopping her in her tracks. She knew that Paige was out of it and that it wasn't really what Paige would want but before she could say anything more mumbling slipped past Paige's lips, "What?" Emily asked, not understanding what the girl was trying to say.

"Miss you." Paige grumbled, a distant look in her half opened eyes as she tried her best to focus on Emily's eyes staring back at her.

Emily swallowed hard, tears filling her eyes as she nodded hesitantly. Despite her better judgement she sat back down on the edge of the bed next to Paige, the brunette grabbing Emily's hand loosely and pulling it close to her chest, nuzzling into her pillow again and almost immediately falling back asleep.

Emily squeezed Paige's hand softly, "I miss you too." She whispered, a sadness suddenly falling over her as she let her eyes linger on her ex.

Emily finally managed to look away and took a moment to really glance around the room for the first time, easily being able to pick out the few changes in the room since she had last been in it but overall it was pretty much the same it had always been. However she felt her breath hitch as her eyes stopped on a picture of her and Paige sitting on the desk off to the side of the room.

She took in the photo, remembering the moment. Their wide smiles beaming at the camera, young and happy. What she wouldn't give to go back to that.

She took a shaky breath, forcing herself to look away from the photo. Her eyes landing on Paige again, the girl's features completely relaxed, the grip she had on Emily's hand substantially loosening. Emily slowly pulled her hand away from Paige's and stood up, glancing down at her once more to make sure she was still soundly asleep before making her way out of the room and closing the door softly behind her making sure not to disturb the girl.

Emily got back in her room and pulled open a drawer, grabbing the framed photo of her and Paige she had shoved into it earlier this week. She walked it back over towards her bed, studying the photo for a moment before setting it carefully on her bedside table where it had sat for years.

Emily slipped her shoes off and leaned down to pick them up, carrying them over to her bedroom door and placing them neatly against the wall where she always lined her shoes. She flicked the light in the room off and walked to the bed, pulling the covers back and sitting down but Paige's sweatshirt resting messily on the floor caught her eye. She climbed back out of bed and grabbed the sweatshirt pulling it over her head, not stopping to think about why she was doing it.

She crawled back into bed, pulling the covers over her and snuggling deeper into the bed, pulling at the neckline of the sweatshirt and bringing it up to cover the lower part of her face, the faint smell that had always been uniquely Paige's giving her a sense of comfort and lulling her to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys! Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone for all the support I've been getting for this story, it's been really incredible. As always, feel free to leave a review (good or bad) or any suggestions you might have. I always enjoy reading your thoughts and opinions so don't be shy. Also I didn't proof read this chapter just because it's so late where I am so sorry for any mistakes. Thanks again, hope you all enjoy :)**

Paige woke up with a small groan. She peaked her eyes open to look to see what time it was but quickly noticed her phone wasn't in its usual position on the stand beside her bed. She let out a series of unpleasant noises into the empty room before rolling over but quickly stopping when she felt the rough denim of her jeans rubbing uncomfortably against her legs.

She sighed, laying on her back for a moment before sitting up and wiping at her face as she woke herself up. She cringed slightly at the crude taste that still lingered in her mouth from the night before, throwing the blankets off of her and stripping out of her jeans once she was on her feet. As she made her way out of the room she grabbed a pair of shorts that had been abandoned on the floor and slipped into them. She walked down the hallway, not in any rush, running her fingers through her disheveled hair as she descended the stairs and walked into the kitchen without a second thought.

"Well look who crawled out of her grave." Derek said with a chuckle as he earned a glare from Paige who didn't even bother to respond.

Paige walked straight to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle, twisting the cap off and taking a drink, swishing the water around in her mouth briefly before swallowing and returning the bottle to her lips.

"Rough night?" Derek asked, a stupid smirk on his face.

Paige finally pulled the water away from her lips and twisted the cap on as she rolled her eyes at Derek, "You already know the answer to that." Paige grumbled annoyed, "So why are you asking?"

Derek shrugged, "I have nothing better to do."

"Get a life." Paige suggested blatantly, dropping herself heavily in the chair across from Derek, "Thanks though." She said with a sigh, crossing her arms on the table.

"For what?"

Paige looked at him obliviously, "For bringing me home?"

"Oh no I didn't do that." He said, causing Paige to look curiously at him, "I mean I was going to but then…Emily insisted."

Paige's eyes widened slightly, "Emily?"

"Yeah?"

Paige's head whipped around to find Emily standing in the doorway, hangover forgotten, "Huh?"

Emily looked at Derek before moving her eyes back to Paige, "You said my name." She stated unsurely.

"Oh." Paige stuttered, internally face palming herself for acting so abnormally, "Umm yeah I did." She added stupidly as if the clarification was needed, "I uh just wanted to say sorry for last night. Derek said you were the one who had to get me."

"No problem." Emily said with a small smile, "I actually wanted to talk to you if you had a moment?" She said unsurely.

"And that's my cue." Derek said, standing up.

"You know what I actually have a thing." Paige said as she stood up, uselessly gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb.

"Sit." Derek said, reaching over and pushing Paige back down into the chair at the table, "She doesn't have anything." He said to Emily before leaving the two women alone.

Emily watched as Paige sat in her chair, hands playing absentmindedly with the half-filled water bottle in front of her. She sighed, walking over to the table and sitting down in the chair next to Paige's, turning slightly to face Paige, who finally glanced up at her.

"Hey." Emily said with a small smile.

"I'm sorry about last night." Paige said sheepishly.

"You already said that." Emily pointed out.

Paige let out a heavy sigh, leaning back in her chair, "I don't know how to do this anymore." She stated blatantly.

Emily furrowed her brows as she watched Paige's shoulder's slump in what she assumed was defeat, "Don't know how to do what?" She asked, not sure what Paige was insinuating.

"Talk to you!" Paige stated in frustration as she lightly slammed her hands against the table and pushed herself up into a standing position, "Why is it suddenly so hard?" She asked.

Emily wasn't sure if it was rhetorical or if Paige was genuinely asking at this point, "It's hard for me too, you know?" Emily admitted softly, "It's just, it's been so long I don't always know what's okay to say."

"You sure had a lot to say last night." Paige huffed out and while she didn't intend to say it so harshly, it was clear the words impacted Emily.

Emily shook her head as she stood up and faced Paige who had her hip leaned against the counter, arms crossed over her chest, "Maybe the timing wasn't great, I understand that but I meant what I said to you." She said, "And I'm sorry that it upset you but you know what you shouldn't be going out and drinking like that because of it. Since when do you do that?"

Paige narrowed her eyes at the woman in front of her, pushing her hip off the counter and squaring up to Emily, "It's a bad habit I developed after you left." She answered, "It's none of your business what I do anyway. Who cares if I want to go have a drink after a rough day, it's not that big of a deal."

"Why do you always have to do that?" Emily asked frustrated, "You can never just take something someone says and accept that it's the truth." Emily shot at her, "Why do you always have to be so hardheaded?"

"I'm hardheaded?" Paige yelled, her finger digging into her chest, "You're one to talk. You don't take advice all that easily either Emily."

"What about that talk we just had the other day, huh?" Emily said, ignoring Paige's comments, "I know you Paige. I know you don't want to be that person who turns to the bottle. Don't make those kinds of mistakes again."

Paige looked away from Emily for a moment, knowing Emily was right, "I can't help who've I've become in the last few years." The brunette said, voice lowering to a normal level.

"That's not who you are." Emily said with conviction in her voice.

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think anymore." Paige retorted.

That made Emily stop in her tracks, all thoughts in her head immediately stopping as she stared at Paige blankly for a moment, "Maybe you're right." Emily finally agreed, "We've changed since we were together. But there's still a part of you that is the same girl I've always known and she's a lot stronger than you're giving yourself credit for."

Paige sighed not knowing how she was supposed to react to that. Part of her welcomed Emily's words, them making her feel good about herself. Them making her want to believe Emily and be better for herself but she wasn't sure if she was ready for that, "Maybe we just need some space." Paige suggested, the words surprising her just as much as they seemed to surprise Emily, "Some time apart from each other." She elaborated, studying Emily's features carefully for a reaction.

Emily's face fell as she thought this over for a second, "Don't you think we've spent enough time apart already?" She challenged cautiously, biting her lip to keep it from quivering.

"Yeah and whose fault is that?" Paige spit back.

Emily laughed humorlessly, "Well that depends who you ask I guess." Emily started, "Because if you ask just about anyone else, including you, it's apparently mine. It's my fault for leaving." She said before pausing for a moment, "But if you ask me it's yours. It's yours for not listening to me. For knowing I was going to leave and not doing anything about it." Emily said before shoving her way past Paige and upstairs.

Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath, turning as her eyes opened back up to watch Emily disappear upstairs. Paige knew Emily was partially right. She couldn't just blame everything on Emily. But it was easier that way. She didn't like to think of the part she played in Emily leaving her. She hasn't forgiven herself for letting Emily walk out of her life knowing that she could've done something to stop it.

The brunette decided to push those thoughts down before they consumed her again and went about her day as she had previously planned. She moved upstairs and packed some of the things she needed in a small duffel bag before making her way out of the house and to her truck. She tossed the duffel bag in the bed of the truck and jumped in the driver seat, not bothering to look back at the Field's house.

Paige felt like she needed to separate herself from Emily, not just for her sake but for Emily's as well. Clearly they hadn't been able to sort everything between them out as fast as they wanted to. The tension was clear every time they were in the same room as each other and it was exhausting to have to deal with it. Maybe getting away from each other for a little while will help ease that tension and anger that lingered between them. Or at least that's what Paige was hoping for.

Emily on the other hand didn't feel like separating themselves more than they already had been was going to do anything to help their situation. However she respected Paige's wishes when she had come down for dinner later that day, Derek letting her know that Paige had decided to stay somewhere else for a little bit.

Despite her best efforts, Emily couldn't take it.

Three days. That's all it took to drive Emily absolutely crazy. She had sworn to herself that she wasn't going to ask where Paige had been staying the last few days, even though she had managed to convince herself that she already knew the answer. However she didn't like the images of Paige finding a temporary home in Sam's bed but as hard as she tried she couldn't seem to fight off the images of Paige and the blonde girl that slipped into her mind when she couldn't sleep at night.

It didn't take her long to get it out of Derek. As loyal as he was to Paige, he was still Emily's little brother and at the end of the day he wanted both of the women to work things out so that everyone could just be happy.

The lake house. The answer had surprised her, although she would admit that she liked that much better than Sam's one bedroom apartment.

Emily wasted no time getting herself to the lake house, parking her car near the house and jumping out slowly. She shut the door and stood by the car for a moment, letting her eyes roam over the house in front of her. She took one last deep breath before making her way up to the house and to the front door. She knocked and took a step back, waiting patiently for Paige to answer.

After a few moments of Paige not answering Emily raised her hand to knock again, this time the door swinging open rather quickly, slightly startling Emily back, "Hey." She greeted suddenly intimidated by the completely surprised look on Paige's face.

"Emily?" Paige said, holding the door open, "What are you doing here?"

"Derek told me you'd be here." Emily offered as she peaked over Paige's shoulder to catch a glimpse inside the house, not missing the way Paige rolled her eyes over Derek spilling the beans about her whereabouts, "I'm sorry to just show up like this."

Paige shook her head, "Umm, no it's fine." She said, looking at Emily curiously, "Is everything okay?"

"What?" Emily asked, redirecting her attention fully to Paige, "Oh, yeah everything's fine."

"So?" Paige asked, dragging it out a little, "Did you need something?"

"I didn't know you were staying here." She said a little absentmindedly.

Paige let out a small chuckle, "Yeah I think that was kind of the point." She said, making Emily frown slightly, "Space, remember."

Emily nodded, "Right. Space." She said, dropping her head slightly as she shifted on her feet uncomfortably, "I know I'm supposed to be giving you that but I just…I don't know I couldn't stop thinking about you." She admitted quietly, "And I felt really bad about the fight we had the other day."

Paige sighed as she leaned her body against the door frame, taking a moment to stare at Emily. Paige glanced over her shoulder into the house briefly before turning back to Emily, clearing her throat, "Do you, uh, want to come in?"

"Yeah, okay." Emily said a little unsure, suddenly forgetting why she even decided to show up here unannounced or how she even found the courage to in the first place, "Wow." She said in awe as she moved past Paige and into the living room, "It's like stepping back in time." She said letting her eyes wander around the room.

Paige chuckled a little uncomfortably as she closed the front door and turned to observe Emily, "I didn't have the heart to change much." Paige admitted as she rubbed at the back of her neck, "I like it the way my parents had it."

Emily nodded in understanding for a moment before Paige's words sank in and she turned to look back at the woman in surprise, "Wait. Do you own this place?"

Paige nodded even though Emily wasn't looking at her at the moment, her eyes going back to glance around, "No one was ever going to buy it. It's a small town, people thought it was tainted or something after my parents died." Paige said, "They were thinking about tearing it down since it just sat empty for so long. I couldn't let that happen though so I saved up enough and bought it myself." Paige explained, "Your dad helped me fix up a couple things here and there. Clean the place out. Now it's good as new."

Emily shook her head in disbelief, "It's beautiful." She said turning to glance around the house, knowing how much the place meant to the woman in front of her, "So why are you still staying at my parents' house?"

"I bought this place about three years ago, "Paige said, walking over to sit on the edge of the armrest of the couch, "I tried to move in when me and your dad finished cleaning it up but sometimes it was just hard for me to be here." Emily nodded in understanding, allowing Paige to continue, "It reminds me so much of my parents and all the summers we spent here." She admitted solemnly, "It also doesn't help when you're sitting in this big house all alone. It just makes it worse. Your parents offered to let me live with them when I was struggling with things and I guess I just never saw a reason to leave."

"Until I showed up and ruined it." Emily said, surprised by the small laugh that came out of Paige.

"I mean I was going to have to leave eventually," Paige said with a shrug, "you just gave me the push I needed."

Emily smiled back at Paige, "Why is this so easy right now?" Emily asked, "Just a few days ago we were screaming at each other about how we didn't know how to be around each other anymore."

Paige let out a sigh as she stood back up, "Sometimes it's hard to forget that it's not supposed to be easy when it comes to you anymore."

"I can relate to that." Emily admitted.

"It's just the tension." Paige said nonchalantly as she moved closer to Emily, "It's been a long time since we were together. Like you said, it brings up a lot of stuff. Creates a lot of tension between us, which makes it awkward…"

"Which makes it hard to talk to each other." Emily finished Paige's thought with a nod of agreement, "Do you think we can get back to a place where it's not weird anymore? You know, like we talked about that one day."

Paige shrugged, "Maybe. Maybe not." Paige said, "Maybe if we just got rid of the tension, things wouldn't be so…" Paige paused.

"Tense?" Emily said, a raised eyebrow accompany a sliver of a smile on her face, "And how are we supposed to get rid of the tension?" Emily asked, suddenly distracted by the proximity of Paige, who had made her way across the room and was standing directly in front of her again.

Paige shook her head slowly, Emily not missing the way Paige's eyes glanced down towards her lips for a brief second before they returned to her eyes. Emily swallowed hard as Paige let her hand wander into Emily's carefully, making Emily's breath hitch as their fingers threaded together seamlessly.

"Paige." Emily managed to stammer out in a whisper.

"Hmm." Paige hummed in response, completely distracted as she looked down at their intertwined hands, her thumb rubbing softly against the back of Emily's hand.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked quietly.

"Trying to get rid of the tension." Paige stated in a hushed tone, her hot breath hitting Emily's face making the girl close her eyes softly.

"I-" Emily started as her eyes fluttered open but she stopped when she was met with Paige standing so close their noses were nearly touching, "I don't think t-this is a good idea." She said truthfully despite her body screaming at her to close the distance between them.

"Yeah, probably not." Paige agreed as her tongue poked out of her mouth to wet her lips, her mouth suddenly dry as she watched Emily's eyes flicker down to follow the movement.

"Just to get rid of the tension." Emily tried to convince herself, her breathing ragged as her free hand moved to rest against Paige's neck, letting it trail up until it was cupping her cheek softly.

"Exactly." Paige barely managed to get out before her hand was attached to Emily's hip and she was leaning forward to close the gap.

Their lips met for a brief kiss. Nothing much more than lips pressed together, the two separating after a couple of seconds, both of their eyes fluttering half open to look at the other before they slammed back together. This time clashing together in pent up frustration and neediness.

Emily released Paige's hand to move it up to grip the back of her neck, Paige taking the opportunity to let both of her hands grip low on Emily's waist, pushing the woman back gently and getting her to walk backwards until she was pushed up against the wall, it steadying them both. Emily let out a small huff as she hit the wall, Paige taking the opportunity to slip her tongue into Emily's mouth without overthinking it.

Emily welcomed the intrusion, forcing herself to swallow down a moan. She hadn't felt like this in so long, all she could think about was how thankful she was for Paige's firm grip holding her up, quickly feeling her knees buckle under her.

Their mouths fumbled together strangely for a short time before they both slipped back into old habits. Their hands and tongue's moving practiced with each other as if they had never forgotten how to do this. Emily's hand roamed up into Paige's hair, gripping it and tugging softly when Paige bit her lip lightly, a moan escaping into the air, neither sure who it came from but it only encouraging them both as hands ran more freely than before.

Emily pulled back slightly, leaning her head against the wall as she tried to control her erratic breathing, her eyes closing as Paige didn't miss a beat, moving her lips expertly to trail Emily's jaw, sucking and nipping on all the spots Emily liked as she went.

The brunette let her hands slide up under Emily's shirt, her fingertips meeting soft skin, the moan that slipped out of Emily as she drug her short nails across the girl's stomach, fueling her as she re-angled herself to meet Emily's lips again in a rushed kiss, Emily's hands attaching themselves to Paige's hips, attempting to pull the woman closer to her.

It continued for a couple more minutes before the doorbell ringing made the two shoot away from each other. Both panting harshly as they stared at the door with wide eyes before their eyes met each other's. It was like they were in a trance, a knock this time breaking them out of it.

"Paige, it's me." A voice came from the other side of the door, the impatience clear in the tone as the knocking came again this time in more of a constant pounding.

"Fuck, it's Sam." Paige whispered harshly under her breath, as she rushed to run her hands through her slightly disheveled hair.

Emily narrowed her eyes, smoothing out her shirt as she continued to try to slow her breathing, "You have to not be here." Paige said, causing Emily's frown to deepen.

"My dad's car is out front." Emily informed Paige, "She knows someone is here." She argued, a slight bite to her tone.

"I'll tell her that I drove it here." Paige countered as she grabbed Emily's arm, "Just go upstairs." She said pushing the girl softly in the direction of the stairs, "I'll get her to leave. Please."

"Fine." Emily agreed, moving willingly to the stairs, "But she better not be here long." She said, quickly jogging up the stairs when Sam's voice rang out through the door once again, Paige waiting until Emily disappeared before running over to open the front door.

"Hey." She greeted probably a little too cheerfully.

Sam looked at her curiously, "What took you so long?" She asked, eyeing Paige carefully.

"Sorry." Paige apologized, moving to the side to let Sam in, "I was asleep, I didn't hear you."

"It's the middle of the day." Sam said, gesturing to the car she was parked next to before she walked past Paige and into the house, "And why is Wayne's car out front?"

"I know, I had a long night. I accidently fell asleep watching a movie." Paige tried, shutting the door behind her and following Sam, "And Wayne's not here. I burrowed his car." Paige rambled, "My truck was having some problems so." She trailed off with a shrug.

"Hm." Sam hummed suspiciously, "Are you okay?" She asked, turning to face Paige.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." Paige rushed out, "Why do you ask?"

"Because you're acting weird." Sam stated obviously, "Does this have something to do with Emily again?" She asked, Paige not failing to notice the way her eyes searched the room as if she was looking for something in particular.

Paige's eyes widened a little, "What?! Emily?" She said as if the thought alone was ridiculous, "I haven't even seen Emily in days." She reminded Sam, "Remember we decided to stay away from each other for a little while."

Sam laughed a little at that, "Right, space. I remember." The blonde said, "However I also remember how you and Emily are like magnets."

"That's not true." Paige said, a tinge of offence in her voice.

"She wouldn't, I don't know, be here by any chance would she?" Sam asked, a small smirk appearing on her face as she looked at Paige.

"You're crazy." Paige stated with a straight face, "Why in the world would me and Emily even want to be in the same room together, let alone all by ourselves. And why so curious all the sudden, aren't you supposed to be mad at me?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow.

She had apologized to Sam multiple time by now but Sam was having none of it, really making her work for her forgiveness this time. And while they had texted a little here and there, starting to get back to normal, Sam had still been holding back on her a little bit since their fight.

"Why are you deflecting?" Sam asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not doing anything."

"Give it up Paige, I know she's here." Sam stated matter-of-factly, "You don't have to lie. Derek texted me and told me to make sure the two of you didn't kill each other."

Paige let out a sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Does he have to tell everyone everything?" She asked rhetorically, annoyed with the younger boy.

Sam let out a soft chuckle, "You should really know better by now then to tell him anything." She said, "Now the real question is why did you feel the need to hide Emily from me?"

"She just came by to talk." Paige explained, "That whole space thing was more my idea than hers." She admitted.

"Aww, did Emily miss you?" Sam teased lightly.

"Shut up." Paige said rolling her eyes but a small laugh slipping past her lips anyway, "I'd bet everything I have that Emily thought I was staying with you and it was most likely driving her up the wall."

Sam chuckled again, "Is it terrible that I get so much joy out of the fact that she sees me as such a threat?"

Paige laughed with her, "Yes." She said with a definitive nod, "So now that you know neither of us are killing the other…"

"Can I leave?" Sam finished knowingly, "Fine." She agreed already making her way towards the front door, "But one last piece of advice," She said stopping after opening the front door to turn and look at Paige who was following her, "make sure you're sure before you jump back into bed with that girl."

Paige rubbed at her neck uncomfortably, avoiding looking directly at Sam, "Oh come on, you really didn't think I picked up on that?" Sam teased, "You looked like you had just ran a marathon when you opened the door."

Paige could feel her cheeks getting warm and she knew that a deep blush had creeped onto her face when she looked up and Sam couldn't help but laugh at her, "Call me later." Sam said as she walked down to her car.

Paige waited until the woman had driven away before closing the door and headed upstairs to find Emily, "Emily?" She called out as she reached the hallway and found no signs of the girl. It didn't take her long to notice that her old bedroom door was open, light from the window inside the bedroom peaking all the way out into the hallway.

The brunette walked to the door, stopping in the doorway and looking at Emily who was sitting on the edge of the twin sized bed pushed in the corner of the room, "Hey." Paige said softly, getting Emily's attention without startling her.

Emily looked up and gave Paige a small smile, "Hey."

"What are you doing in here?" Paige asked, not moving from her spot in the doorway.

Emily dropped her head slightly, watching her own hand as it ran smoothly over the old bedspread on the bed, "I don't know." She sighed, "You now this is exactly why I avoid coming home." She said without looking up at Paige.

This made Paige look at Emily in confusion, "Why?" She asked, taking a couple steps into the room.

Emily let out a teary chuckle, bringing the back of her hand up to wipe her nose as she sniffled, "Because of you."

Paige frowned, shoving her hands into the pockets of her shorts, "Because of me?" She repeated, Emily immediately catching the tone of her voice laced with a certain sadness.

Emily looked up at Paige and shook her head slowly, "Not in a bad way." She tried to explain, "It's just you're everywhere here. It's easier to not miss you so much when I'm thousands of miles away from you. In a place you've never been." She confessed honestly.

"It's never been easy to not miss you." Paige stated quietly, as if she was ashamed that she still somehow managed to miss Emily.

The statement did nothing but make Emily's heart clench in her chest and the tears that she had been doing a decent job holding back fall, "I'm sorry." She said not knowing what else to say.

Paige shook her head, moving to sit down on the bed next to Emily, "You know you don't have to keep apologizing."

Emily nodded her head somewhat vigorously in disagreement, "I never meant to hurt you. I know that's such a stupid thing to say after what I did but I didn't."

Paige picked her arm up and slung it over Emily's shoulder softly, squeezing her a little closer to her, "I never meant to hurt you either." She said gently, dropping a kiss to the side of Emily's head without much thought, "And I don't want to keep hurting you. I think we've both hurt enough."

Emily nodded, leaning her head on Paige's shoulder, welcoming the comfort the woman was offering her. They sat like that for a few moments, both just content with the current peace between each other. The familiarity of the other making the pain ease, even if it was the slightest bit.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you al know that I will be starting to wrap up the story within the next 4 or 5 chapter so if there is anything you want to see in the story or suggestions in general let me know. Also this chapter goes back and forth between the past and present, I tried to make it as self explanatory as possible so I hope it's not too confusing. Okay that's all I've got, hope you enjoy the new chapter and as always feel free to leave a review or PM to let me know what you thought :)**

 _Paige sluggishly made her way up the set of stairs that lead to their small apartment, struggling to keep all of her stuff in her hands as she stopped to unlock the door. She finally managed to get the key in the slot and get into the apartment, cringing slightly when she dropped a folder she had in her hand, the papers spilling out around her as she shut the door behind her, clicking the lock and setting the rest of her things by the door. She crouched down and slid the papers that had fallen back into the folder quickly before tossing it into the small pile with the rest of her stuff, a heavy sigh leaving her lips._

 _Paige slid her blazer off her shoulders as she walked towards the kitchen, hanging it over the back of one of the chairs pushed up against the counter routinely, happy to find a full plate of food sitting next to the microwave where Emily usually left it for her when she was running late from work. She uncovered the food and stuck it in the microwave, unbuttoning a couple buttons on her dress shirt and pulling the ends that were neatly tucked into her dress pants out._

 _She stopped the microwave before it went off, trying her best to stay quiet, assuming that since it was quickly nearing 2 a.m. that Emily was already asleep in their room just down the hall. Paige popped the microwave open and pulled out the food, moving towards the kitchen table, not caring that the food wasn't hot all the way around yet. She sat down and immediately shoveled a spoonful of food into her mouth, humming in pleasure at the flavors that filled her mouth, silently thanking Emily for leaving her something._

 _It took three more spoonfuls of food off the plate before a thin folder sitting neatly on the edge of the table caught Paige's attention. She set her fork down, mindlessly wiping her hands on her pants before reaching out for the folder curiously as she chewed her food._

 _She swallowed her food and dropped her head as soon as she opened the folder and was met with a pamphlet with a pair of kids smiling back at her, another small packet of information sitting behind it, neatly tucked away in the folder._

 _She instantly recalled agreeing to have dinner with one of Emily's friends who happened to work at an adoption agency and was going to come over to see if the process was something they were interested in starting._

 _They had talked about starting a family after they got married next year. Emily had been excitedly looking into options and when her friend found out she offered to come over and talk to them about the process. They agreed, thankful for the offer, figuring that if they chose to go with adoption it may take a while before they actually were able to get the chance to get a child and that it would be best to start sooner than later._

 _Paige dropped the folder on the table with a little force, leaning back in her chair as she tried to think. That couldn't have been tonight already could it have been?_

 _She sighed again, as she shook her head, reprimanding herself. Obviously it was tonight because she was staring at a folder full of information and forms as evidence that she had somehow forgotten._

 _Emily was going to kill her._

 _Paige stood up, all thoughts of her dinner forgotten as she walked straight towards their bedroom but when she reached for the door handle and tried to turn it her shoulder hit the door with a thud, the door handle locked and not budging at all._

 _The brunette groaned as she leaned her body against the door knowing that she was in trouble, she knocked lightly even though she knew she wasn't going to get a response. She figured she was right when she continued to stand by their bedroom door, knocking lightly and quietly calling Emily's name through the door to no avail._

 _It didn't take long for her to give up, turning away from the door and heading back towards the kitchen. She turned the corner from the hallway back to the kitchen where she could see into the living room, immediately noticing a pillow and folded up blanket sitting on the couch already._

 _"_ _Perfect." Paige mumbled to herself in frustration._

 _She walked back to her bag that was left by the front door and dug around in the front pocket for her cellphone, finding it quickly and opening the home screen only to be met with multiple texts and missed calls from Emily. She had been so focused on her work she hadn't even bothered to check it in hours, it sitting in her bag on silent for the majority of the day._

 _Paige tossed the phone onto the kitchen table as she walked by it not bothering to read or listen to any of the messages. She had been with Emily long enough to know that by the time she got to the third voicemail she would be on the wrong end of Emily's wrath. So instead she moved over to the washer and dryer in the back corner of their hallway, pulling a pair of shorts that had luckily been in the dryer out and pulled a sweatshirt off the ground, slipping out of her work clothes and into the more comfortable choice before retiring to the couch for the night, hoping that Emily would talk to her about it in the morning._

 _..._

Emily walked up to the front door, a somewhat giddy feeling in her stomach as she reached the porch. After she had randomly showed up at the lake house the other day, her and Paige agreed to get together to have dinner in hopes they could continue working things out. So here she was.

She stopped outside the front door, taking a deep breath to calm the nerves slowly building in her stomach, smoothing out the short summer dress she had settled on wearing before ringing the doorbell.

Paige opened the door fairly quickly, a soft smile on her face, "Hey." She said, her eyes not being able to help themselves as they wandered over Emily's body appreciatively, Paige feeling a slight blush run up her face as her eyes met Emily's smirking face, clearly having caught her drifting eyes.

"Hi." Emily greeted, smile still resting on her face, "I'm a little early, I hope that's okay."

Emily had tried her best to wait patiently for the day to pass and the time that Paige and her had agreed on for dinner to roll around but her eagerness got the best of her, deciding that showing up a little early wouldn't hurt anyone. She somehow felt like she was in high school again. Not being able to contain herself, the excitement and yearning to see Paige coming back to her far too naturally.

"It's fine, come in." Paige reassured as she stepped to the side to give Emily room to pass her and make her way into the house.

Paige closed the door behind Emily and followed her through the living room and towards the kitchen. Emily stopped right as she got to the entryway of the kitchen nearly causing Paige to run into her. Paige stopped in surprise behind her, watching Emily as her face scrunched up, her eyes moving to scan the kitchen before they landed back on Paige.

"What?" Paige asked.

"Did you burn something in here?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow, a slightly taunting look on her face.

Paige's shoulders slumped as her mouth formed into a small frown, "You can still smell that?" The brunette asked with dread, "I've had the windows open for at least half an hour." She swore.

Emily couldn't help the giggle that burst out of her causing Paige to toss a glare at Emily over her shoulder, "What did you burn?"

"There may have been a small incident with a pie that I may or may not have forgotten was in the oven." Paige said, a slightly guilty look on her face.

Emily smiled endearingly at her. God how did she ever live without her she wondered involuntarily, the thought catching her by surprise as she stared at the woman now moving around the kitchen like Emily had imagined she was doing before she got here.

"You attempted to make your mothers award winning pie?" Emily questioned knowingly, taking a few steps towards Paige and leaning her hip casually against the counter, "And then burnt it?" She asked incredulously.

Paige looked at Emily slightly surprised at how fast they fell into a familiar banter, "First of all she won one award at a county fair, I don't think it's really that big of a deal."

"How dare you insult your mom's apple pie like that." Emily chastised, "Just because you don't like pie doesn't mean it wasn't good. Your mom's apple pies were everything."

Paige smiled at the look on Emily's face, like she could see Paige's mother in the kitchen baking. Paige didn't get the chance to talk about her parents much. With what happened to them a lot of people were afraid that bringing them up would do nothing but upset Paige but Emily never shied away from bringing either of the two up. Paige appreciated it. It made her feel good and the way Emily talked about them like she loved them just as much as Paige did made it feel like they were still in her life somehow.

Paige let out a small laugh, "Okay if you say so." She offered, "And I've only managed to ruin one thing so far and I wasn't even planning on eating it so I call this thing a huge success."

Emily nodded, "You didn't have to do all this, honestly." She said, noticing all the pots and pans that were spread out about the kitchen, the room in complete disarray, it was obvious to Emily that Paige still must have not spent much time in the kitchen, "Takeout would've been just fine."

Paige didn't even bother to look over Emily as she stirred some stuff around in one of the pots currently on the stove, "I know but I just thought this would make it more…I don't know special." She admitted a little embarrassed, sending Emily a bashful smile.

Emily couldn't fight the grin that spread across her face. The feelings building inside of her starting to be hard to hold back. She hadn't felt this much in years. Not since she left. Before then even. It was overwhelming but she welcomed it this time. She was tired of trying to fight her feelings from Paige, it was useless at this point.

It had always been useless.

...

 _Despite the somewhat cramped space of the couch Paige slept fairly well, she deciding to account that to the lack of sleep she had been getting lately. She felt pretty confident that she could sleep fairly well if she laid down in the gutter out in the front of their apartment building._

 _She let out a sleepy noise as she shifted around on the couch, the blanket kicked off of her and resting on the floor next to the couch now. However her eyes opened fully when she heard someone shuffling around in the kitchen. Paige sat up and peaked over into the kitchen where she saw a glimpse of Emily as she moved around in there._

 _"_ _Morning." Paige said sleepily, swinging her legs off the couch and onto the floor, taking a moment to rest her elbows on her thighs and rub at her eyes with her palms before standing up and walking towards the kitchen._

 _Emily continued to move around the kitchen, ignoring Paige completely._

 _"_ _Okay so you're still mad then." Paige sighed, leaning her hip against the kitchen table and watching Emily carefully._

 _Emily shook her head as she let out a small humorless laugh through her nose, not adding anything else. Paige stood there in silence for a couple of minutes as Emily continued to go about her morning routine as if Paige wasn't there._

 _Paige finally let out a deep sigh, "Come on Emily, talk to me." The brunette pleaded, pushing herself off the table and taking a few steps towards Emily, "I know I missed the meeting with that lady and I'm so sorry, it just-" Paige paused for a second trying to choose her words carefully, "it just slipped my mind."_

 _Definitely not the right words she thought to herself as soon as they left her mouth._

 _"_ _It just slipped your mind." Emily said casually with a nod, her back to Paige as she opened a cabinet and grabbed a mug._

 _Paige bit her lip nervously, "I just had a lot of work and I was trying to get it done," She rambled, "I just lost track of time and I- I completely forgot."_

 _Emily nodded, back still to Paige as she poured herself a cup of coffee, "It's fine." She said as she put the pot back in the coffee maker and turned to walk towards the kitchen table, grabbing her bowl of oatmeal as she went, "Don't even worry about it." She said as she passed Paige and sat down without another word._

 _Paige stared blankly at her, "Emily?"_

 _"_ _Hmm." Emily hummed, taking a bite of her oatmeal as she opened the laptop in front of her._

 _Paige studied the raven haired woman curiously, she wasn't sure what Emily was trying to do but what she did know was that Emily wasn't fine, "Come on Emily," Paige said with a small sigh of defeat, "talk to me."_

 _"_ _I'm really not in the mood."_

 _"_ _I said I was sorry." Paige tried weakly, moving towards Emily and gently placing a hand on the woman's shoulder, only to have Emily shrug it off immediately._

 _"_ _You've been having to say that a lot lately." Emily said, a small bite to her tone however Paige could hear the tinge of sadness as well._

 _"_ _Look I'm trying."_

 _"_ _Are you!?" Emily asked back harshly, not letting Paige even finish, "Because lately I hardly even see you." Emily said as she turned in her chair to look at Paige._

 _"_ _It's my job Emily, what do you want me to do?" Paige asked incredulously, "I just started at the firm, I'm trying to work hard now so that I can work my way up and get a steady position at this corporation."_

 _"_ _And I get that. You know I fully support you." Emily argued, standing up in front of Paige, "I know how hard you worked to even get the position you're in now and I know it means a lot to you, I do. But lately you don't get home until 2 or 3 in the morning Paige, don't you think that's a little excessive?" Emily asked, "How many people are still at the office when you leave?"_

 _"_ _It doesn't matter who else stays." Paige stated, "I'm doing this so that I can support you and whatever family it is that you apparently want."_

 _"_ _We." Emily corrected immediately, "It used to be a family WE wanted."_

 _Paige let out a heavy sigh through her nose, "You know that's not what I meant." The brunette responded, "You know I want a family too Emily but we're young, we have plenty of time."_

 _"_ _It's not even about you missing the dinner for that Paige. You don't think I know we have plenty of time to worry about kids that we might not even have?" Emily expressed to Paige, "It's about you missing everything nowadays. You're never here anymore. You literally get up, work on files all morning, head to the office, and then you sneak into the house in the early hours of the morning."_

 _"_ _What do you want me to do?" Paige asked, her voice rising in frustration, "Quit?"_

 _Emily shook her head, "Of course not. You know I would never ask you to do anything like that." She said, "You're overworking yourself for no reason though. I just want you to relax a little and maybe make it home by dinner every once in a while."_

 _Paige sighed through her nose, closing her eyes tightly, "Yeah. Okay." She said halfheartedly, "Dinner. I can do that."_

 _Emily scoffed, "Please don't sound so thrilled to spend time with me." She let out sarcastically, "You know what forget it."_

 _Paige lifted her arms out to the side of her before letting them fall to her sides producing a small slap as she watched Emily walk away from her, "What's your problem?"_

 _Emily stopped in her tracks to whip around and face Paige, a new fire in her eyes as she looked at her fiancé in disbelief, "What's my problem?!" She asked, her finger pressed roughly to her own chest, her jaw slightly slacked, "Are you kidding me?"_

 _Paige shrugged even though she knew this was a fight she wasn't going to win, "I miss one dinner and suddenly it's Armageddon between us."_

 _"_ _You honestly are so caught up in yourself and your job that you don't even know how detached you've been." Emily said, her voice dropping all signs of anger, exhaustion quickly taking over her as she shook her head, "And for what a job you don't even want."_

 _"_ _Don't start with that." Paige said firmly._

 _"_ _Why not?" Emily urged, "It's true. Don't even try to tell me you're happy working there. The only reason you're even trying to become a lawyer is because your dad wanted you to be one."_

 _"_ _That's enough Emily."_

 _"_ _You're miserable and you know it." Emily continued, ignoring Paige completely, "And for some reason you're still willing to throw everything between us away for it."_

 _"_ _What is that supposed to mean?" Paige asked not liking where this conversation seemed like it was headed._

 _Emily crossed her arms loosely over her chest, pausing to gather her thoughts. She knew once she put it out there there was no taking it back._

 _"_ _Maybe…maybe we weren't ready for all of this." She managed to push out quietly._

 _..._

"This is actually really good." Emily said pleasantly surprised as she took another bite.

"Don't act so surprised." Paige said through a small laugh.

"I'd say it's a massive improvement from the first time you tried to cook me dinner."

Paige groaned dropping her head in agony, "We agreed we weren't going to talk about that." She said, "In my defense I was young and nobody had ever taught me how to cook. My mom fed me until she passed away and then your mom picked up right where she left off. I didn't need to know."

"You can't blame it on that." Emily argued teasingly, "We practically grew up in the same house and I know how to cook just fine."

"May I remind you of the thanksgiving incident our sophomore year of college." Paige retorted, a gleeful glint in her eye, knowing it'd get a reaction out of Emily.

Emily played right into Paige's hand dropping her fork onto her plate with a loud cling, "That was one time and it was one hundred percent your fault." She said with passion in her voice, an accusatory finger pointing directly at Paige.

Paige smiled wide as she watched Emily, "It's okay Fields, you don't have to be perfect all the time you know."

Emily bit her lip, her mind rushing back to the memory of her running down the stairs while trying to pull her shirt back onto her body, smoke already starting to fill the kitchen with Paige hot on her heels. She could still hear the loud belly laugh that filled the kitchen all those years ago, pure joy coming from Paige as Emily rushed to pull the burnt turkey from the oven.

She could remember it all so clearly, Paige muttering the same words to her that she just had as she put her arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. It was the first and last time she was put in charge of cooking thanksgiving dinner and she was reminded of it every year after. Until she stopped coming home for it that is.

"I'm glad I came back." Emily said, the words slipping out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

Paige's smile faltered for a second, noticeably not expecting those words from Emily but her smile returned quickly, "Me too." She said truthfully.

She could feel it starting again. Emily Fields was working her way back into her heart. Not that Emily had ever left her system but this was good. They were trying and not only that but they were actually getting along. It was weird how easy it all suddenly felt. Was it supposed to be this easy?

She wasn't sure. But she also didn't care. For the last couple of years this was all she wanted. Emily. And now she was here. They were here. Sitting together having dinner and genuinely enjoying each other's company again. And for the first time since Emily had come back Paige felt like maybe this could be their second chance.

Maybe they could actually work things out and find a way to be happy again.

...

 _Paige stared at her in complete surprise, she never thought this would go that far. She didn't know how she was supposed to respond to that. How did they get to this point?_

 _"_ _Weren't ready for this?" Paige asked still stunned, "Emily we've been ready for this for a long time, that's why we're doing it."_

 _Emily shook her head, "I know it's not always supposed to be easy but this is a lot." She admitted, moving over to drop herself into a chair at the kitchen table, her head falling into her hands, "I can't live like this anymore Paige." Emily finally said in complete defeat._

 _Paige's jaw slacked further as she processed the words. Had it all really gotten that bad? How did she not notice?_

 _"_ _What is that supposed to mean?" Paige asked as she stared at Emily slumped over at the table._

 _Paige wanted to move closer to Emily. To comfort her. Something. But her feet were stuck to the ground at the moment, frozen in fear with where this was seemingly heading._

 _Emily swallowed the lump in her throat as she shrugged her shoulders slightly, still not being able to look at Paige, "I'm just-" She paused not sure how to put how she was feeling into words, "It's exhausting." She settled on, "It's lonely."_

 _Paige finally moved towards Emily, pulling out the chair next to her and sitting down slowly. She lightly reached out grabbing onto Emily's arms and pulling them away from her face and letting her hands slide down until they were cupping Emily's. She gently squeezed them, "Emily look at me." She encouraged quietly, "I'm sorry." The brunette offered sincerely once Emily looked up at her._

 _Emily now had tears silently streaming down her face as she stared at the woman she loved, "Saying sorry isn't going to be enough forever." She whispered honestly._

 _"_ _I don't understand." Paige admitted shaking her head a little puzzled, "What are you trying to say?"_

 _Emily noticed the roughness of Paige's voice. The way it cracked and struggled to push out the words. It made her heart clench in her chest, she wasn't trying to hurt Paige, that's the last thing she wanted but this was a conversation that was long overdue between them._

 _"_ _The last few months have been hard for us." Emily said, "I can see that working all the time is affecting you too." She said, bringing her hand up to caress Paige's face, "You're not happy." She added softly._

 _Emily had noticed the dark circles forming under Paige's eyes, the way she struggled to even pull herself out of bed in the morning. There was a clear struggle within Paige and Emily thought it would go away, that Paige would sort it out on her own but that clearly wasn't the case. And as much as she wanted to help she didn't know how. How was she supposed to help if Paige wouldn't listen to her?_

 _Paige let out a small humorless laugh, "It's exhausting." She agreed, a tear finally slipping from her own eye, "But I have to do this Emily. It's important that I make a good impression so that I can get to the top someday." She stated, "And then after that, whatever you want. A family. A big house. Anything." Paige listed off, "I'll be able to give it to you."_

 _Emily shook her head, Paige still not understanding, "None of that stuff is important to me." She whispered, "You are. I just want you to be here and to be happy. Whatever that means. I don't need a big house or a big family if those aren't things you want too. You're enough for me Paige. But right now you're not here and we're not happy."_

 _Paige shook her head again, "Come on don't say that Em." She pleaded, squeezing Emily's hands again comfortingly, "It's you and me. Always. We're going to figure this out." Paige promised with a reassuring nod, "We always do."_

 _Emily pursed her lips, her eyes flickering down to their joined hands. For the first time in her relationship with Paige the words fell a little flat. She loved her with everything she had but she wasn't sure that they were going to figure this out. This felt bigger than anything they've ever faced but when her eyes met Paige's pleading eyes Emily forced herself to believe that they were going to be okay._

 _Emily gave Paige a small smile even though it didn't quite reach her eyes, "I love you." She said, the words sounding much sadder than they should when being spoken._

 _Paige noticed and leaned forward to wrap her arms around Emily in a tight hug, Emily welcoming the familiar comfort, burying her head into Paige's shoulder, "I love you too." Paige said, dropping a kiss to the side of Emily's head, "I'm going to make it up to you, I promise."_

 _..._

"Thanks for doing this." Emily said, gesturing back towards the kitchen, "I really had a great time."

Paige smiled, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans, "Yeah, of course." She said with a nod, her eyes not being able to stay on Emily's as she shuffled around on her feet, "I had a good time too. It was nice hanging out with you again. You know just the two of us."

Emily nodded in agreement, "It's been awhile since we did that huh?"

Paige let out a nervous laugh, "A VERY long time." She emphasized.

"Paige?" Emily said, taking a step closer to the woman in front of her, "Why are you so nervous?" She asked with a giggle.

Paige let out a big breath, "I have no clue to be honest." She confessed with a slightly awkward laugh.

"Do you remember our first date?" Emily asked, her smile growing when Paige looked up at her with curious eyes.

"Of course. Why?" She asked not sure why Emily would bring that up out of nowhere.

"Because you looked a lot like this at the end of the night." Emily reminded the brunette as her eyes roamed over Paige, "Hands in your pockets as deep as you can possibly get them. Eyes glued to the floor." She said, taking the chance to slip a finger under Paige's chin when her eyes dropped down to the ground again, Emily forcing her head back up so she could look into her eyes, "Deep blush, check." Emily teased, biting her lip.

"I really bet younger me thought I'd be much better at this by now." Paige joked as she pulled her hands out of her pocket.

"And I bet younger Emily really hoped that she would always have this effect on you." Emily replied her eyes flickering down to Paige's lips briefly before they moved back up to her eyes, "I think it's cute." Emily whispered.

"Good, that was the plan all along." Paige responded quietly.

"Can I kiss you?" Emily asked, not wanting to cross any boundaries.

Paige nodded deciding not to wait for Emily, leaning in herself and capturing Emily's lips in a gentle kiss. Emily fell into it swiftly, the world around her disappearing as her body came alive.

They kissed a few days ago but it didn't feel like this. This felt different. It wasn't rushed and it wasn't filled with frustration. There was no pushing or shoving. No fighting for dominance. It was nothing like the kiss they had shared the other day.

It was gentle. Soft. Their lips simply put together, pressing against each other. Emily's hand lightly cupping Paige's neck, while Paige's hand fell softly on her hip, Emily barely even feeling it against her body. This kiss, it wasn't rash. It was real.

Paige pulled back a little, her nose brushing Emily's as their eyes fluttered opened. It only lasted a second before Emily leaned back in and kissed Paige's lips softly one more time before pulling away and taking a step back, letting Paige's hand fall from her waist.

"I better get going." Emily said, not really wanting to but knowing she should.

Paige nodded in understanding, "I'll call you." She promised as Emily opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch, turning to give Paige a smile and a nod before saying a quick goodbye and making her way to her car.

Paige stood on the front porch and watched Emily pull away from the house, giving her one last wave as she drove away. Paige stood there for a second, a smile never leaving her face. Emily Fields was back in her life and things were somehow managing to be going okay so far. She didn't want to get her hopes up too high but she couldn't help the happiness that was radiating in her the more time she spent with Emily. It making her wonder how she ever survived a day without her.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's the new chapter, it's in the same kind of format as the last one with it going back and forth between the past and present. Please feel free to let me know what you think of the chapter (good or bad), or if you have any suggestions on anything. I love hearing everyone's opinions. Hope you all enjoy :)**

"What's gotten into you?" Pam looked at Emily suspiciously from her spot at the kitchen table, watching her move around the kitchen somewhat cheerfully.

Emily looked over her shoulder, "Hmm?" She hummed, seemingly in her own world.

Pam raised an eyebrow at her daughter, "You seem awfully happy this morning." She pointed out.

Emily gave her mother a smile that was a little too wide to mean nothing, shrugging slightly, "Just feeling good today, that's all."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the dinner you had last night with Paige would it?" Pam asked, taking Emily by surprise.

She hadn't told anybody about her dinner with Paige yesterday, well except for, "Derek." Emily said with a roll of her eyes.

Pam let out a soft chuckle, "You know your brother is bad with secrets. I don't know why you all keep telling him things." The older woman said, "So looks like it went good. The dinner." She clarified.

Emily smiled as she thought back to the previous night, images of Paige flooding her mind effortlessly, "Yeah it did actually." She admitted, turning back to continue making herself breakfast.

"So you two are trying to work things out?" Pam asked sipping on her coffee absentmindedly, not surprised at all by the situation.

Emily nodded, "I think so." She said, turning to look back at her mom, "I mean we're working on it. We decided to not put any pressure on it and just take it slow. See what happens." She added casually with a shrug.

Pam nodded, studying Emily carefully, "Okay."

This stopped Emily, who turned her full attention to her mother, "What?" She asked, knowing that her mom had something to say about it.

"Nothing." Pam said, "I think it's great."

"But?" Emily asked, urging her mom to get out with it already.

Pam gave Emily a slightly concerned look, "I just don't want the two of you to go through with all of this again if you aren't sure it's what you want." She explained, "I know both of you far too well and neither of you like to talk about the past. If you're going to work it out then you need to talk about it and make sure you resolve it all instead of pushing it down."

Emily looked down at her feet, knowing her mom was right but she also didn't want to talk about it. She and Paige had been doing well and she was scared bringing up her leaving in the past was going to mess it all up for them. This was their second chance and she wasn't ready to ruin it just yet.

"Everything will be okay Emily." Pam reassured her daughter genuinely, "I can see how much you two still love each other. Talk about it with her. Get it out of the way so you two can have a fresh start." She suggested, cupping Emily's cheek gently and giving her a soft smile, "I'm still waiting on that wedding." Pam teased light heartedly before pulling her hand away and walking out of the room.

Emily nodded to herself a slight grin sneaking on her face at the idea. Her mom was right, if they wanted a chance at a fresh start, they needed to talk about their past.

She just wasn't completely sure how to do that.

...

 _Things went better for about two weeks before they returned to what they were before. Waking up alone in bed to the sound of shuffling papers and the clacking of Paige tying away on a keyboard. Her leaving in a rush to get to the office and Emily coming home from her own job to an empty house. Eating dinner alone and then doing her best to wait up for Paige, it usually ending the same way, her giving up and going to bed alone._

 _This Wednesday was no different. Emily woke up to the left side of the bed being cold and empty. She sat up in bed immediately being able to hear Paige working on her laptop, the quiet sounds of keys echoing through the quiet apartment faintly filling her ears._

 _Emily got out of bed, running her fingers through her hair and making her way through the apartment, leaning on the wall when she reached the end of the hallway where she could see into the kitchen, Paige sitting at the table, her fingers moving furiously against the keyboard._

 _"_ _Morning." Emily said somewhat groggily._

 _Paige slightly startled, not having heard Emily come in, "Morning." Paige said, offering a small smile, "Sorry did I wake you?" She asked, returning her eyes to the screen in front of her._

 _Emily shook her head, "No, you're fine." She said, pushing herself off the wall and moving to sit down at the table next to Paige, "How long have you been up?"_

 _Paige looked at the clock in the corner of her laptop, "About an hour and a half." She admitted._

 _"_ _Paige that means you got under 4 hours of sleep." Emily stated disapprovingly._

 _"_ _I need to get this done before I go into work," Paige explained quickly, "I didn't get the chance to do it yesterday and I got home so late I didn't have time to do it."_

 _Emily shook her head, "I thought we talked about you not working so hard." She reminded her fiancé with a raise of her eyebrow, letting her hand wander to rest on Paige's leg to get her attention._

 _Paige let a soft smile slip onto her face leaning forward to drop a kiss on Emily's cheek firmly, "I know and I haven't." Paige said even though they both knew it wasn't entirely true, "Don't worry about me, okay babe. I'm fine."_

 _Emily sighed but nodded anyway deciding not to push the issue, "You want some breakfast?" She asked as she stood up, letting her hand run across Paige's shoulders as she moved past her and into the kitchen, "I have time to make something before I have to go to work."_

 _"_ _No I'm good." Paige said, closing her laptop and standing up in one swift movement, "I should go get dressed." She stated, "I think I'm going to go into the office early today so I can get everything done."_

 _"_ _I thought you weren't going in until later." Emily questioned._

 _"_ _Yeah but change of plans." Paige said, coming up behind Emily and wrapping an arm around her waist, "If I go in early today that means I get to leave work early." She said with a smile as she pressed a light kiss to Emily's neck, "That means I get to get back to you sooner."_

 _Emily turned around in her arms, smile on her face, "Really?"_

 _Paige smiled back nodding, "You said you were going to make dinner." The brunette reminded, "I thought we could make a date night out of it. Sound good?"_

 _Emily bit her lip in excitement, "Yeah." She said happily, "Sounds great. I can't wait." She added, wrapping her arms around Paige's neck and pulling her in for a kiss, Paige's arms tightening around her waist instinctively._

 _They stayed wrapped up in each other for a few more moments before Paige pulled away and moved towards their bedroom to get ready to head into the office. She did it fairly quickly, coming back out into the kitchen fifteen minutes later._

 _"_ _Okay I'm off." She said grabbing Emily's attention, "I'll see you tonight." She said kissing Emily briefly on the lips before walking towards the front door, "I'll be home by 6?" She said, making sure it sounded good._

 _"_ _Can't wait." Emily reassured with a nod and a smile as she watched Paige leave the house._

 _..._

"Hello?" Paige called through the house as she walked in through the back door, closing it behind her and walking deeper into the house not spotting anyone.

"Hey." Paige turned around at the voice to see Emily coming down the stairs, "What are you doing here?" Emily asked, a smile clearly growing on her face.

"Your mom called me." Paige said, "Said there was a pipe leaking under the sink?" The brunette explained, not really sure herself, "I told her I'd come down here and look at it."

Emily raised an eyebrow at Paige, "She wants you to fix a leaking pipe?"

Paige nodded, shoving her hands in her pockets, "That's what she said." She returned with a shrug of her shoulders causing Emily to bite her lip gently, trying to hold back the smile fighting to stretch across her face, "What?" Paige asked with a small huff, noticing it immediately.

"I didn't say anything." Emily defended.

"You didn't have to." Paige argued light heartedly, "I'm capable of fixing a small leak, you know?"

Emily nodded, "I'm sure you could but I don't think our sink needs to be fixed."

Paige's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Then why did your mom call me and ask me to come over to fix a leaking pipe?"

Emily let out a small chuckle, "Paige if we had a leaking pipe my dad would fix it." She said, walking past Paige and towards the kitchen, "You would definitely not be the first person my mom would call to fix literally anything."

Paige followed Emily into the kitchen, "You know your lack of faith in me is really offensive." She teased light heartedly.

Emily chuckled again, "Well I have good reason. I've seen you try to fix things." She reminded Paige, "Your success rate is not that great."

Paige huffed a disagreement as she watched Emily turn the sink water on in the kitchen before opening the cabinet below the sink to expose the pipes underneath, "No leak." She said leaning against the counter and gesturing to the exposed pipes.

Paige looked for a moment, pursing her lips as she studied the pipes before deciding that Emily was right, "Okay, then why did your mom call me and tell me there was?"

"Oh she definitely one hundred percent lied about it in order to get you over here to talk to me about working things out." Emily explained, "She basically said we both suck at expressing our feelings towards the past and if we're going to do this then we need to sort it out before we get back together."

"Oh." Paige said in surprise, not necessarily expecting that answer.

"I also believe she closed it out with a comment about a wedding she's still waiting on." Emily stated casually as she shut the cabinet below the sink and turned the faucet off.

"So no pressure then." Paige said trying to keep it light but Emily could hear the slight nervousness in Paige's voice.

"Exactly." Emily said quietly, looking down at her feet for a moment before pushing herself away from the counter and over towards Paige, "You know as much as I hate it, she's probably right." Emily said, suddenly becoming a little nervous herself, "We should probably talk about things before we jump into something. Whatever that may be."

Paige took in Emily's words carefully, thinking them over for a brief moment before nodding, "Yeah that's probably not the worst idea." She agreed, "So where do we start?"

...

 _"_ _Oh Paige you're still here." Someone interrupted, peaking into Paige's office, "I thought you were getting off early today?"_

 _Paige turned away from the work scattered across her desk and looked up to see one of her superiors stopped in the doorway of her small office, "Yeah, just about finished up." She said, shooting a polite smile towards the woman._

 _The lady held up a small stack of files, "Do you think you can look at these for me?" She asked stepping further into the office, "Dave was supposed to do it for me but he already left for the night."_

 _"_ _Uh…" Paige dragged out, glancing over at the clock hanging on the wall. She promised Emily she'd be home for dinner tonight._

 _"_ _You know what, I'm sorry," The woman said with a small chuckle, dismissing her question altogether, "you're probably exhausted and I can surely wait until tomorrow afternoon for Dave to get them done." She said turning back to leave the office, "Have a good evening Paige."_

 _"_ _Wait." Paige said, standing up from her chair and reaching out over her desk, "I have some time before I was heading out anyway. I can look over them for you." She offered._

 _"_ _Are you sure?" The woman asked, looking a little guilty._

 _"_ _Absolutely." Paige said forcing a smile, "I'll go through them and see if I see anything. When I'm done I'll just leave them on your desk."_

 _"_ _You have quite the work ethic Mrs. McCullers." She said impressed, "Keep up the good work." She added to which Paige nodded, returning the smile as the woman moved out of the room and left Paige to it._

 _Paige sighed dropping the files down onto her desk, glancing at the clock again. She had a little over an hour before Emily would expect her to be home. She could get this done in plenty of time she thought as she sat back down and got to work._

 _Paige dug into the files, immersing herself in them completely. Time flying by, when she finally finished going through everything and doing what her superior had asked of her she closed up the files and packed up her stuff, moving as quickly as she could out of her office and towards the main hall. She quickly made it to the office she was looking for, walking in and dropping the files onto the abandoned desk._

 _Paige turned around to leave when the clock in the office caught her eye stopping her in her tracks. She cursed under her breath as she picked up her pace. She wasn't just late, she was extremely late._

 _She managed to make it to her car fairly quickly and speed her way home, making it in record time. The brunette jumped out of her car quickly, pushing the button on her keys to lock it as she practically ran up the flight of stairs to get to their apartment door. She opened it quietly and immediately closed her eyes in frustration when she saw all the lights off in the house, the only light cutting through the room being the tv flickering in the corner of their living room._

 _Paige dropped her things by the door and closed it behind her, moving over to turn the tv off, finally spotting Emily curled up on the couch asleep._

 _Paige took a moment to study the woman lying in front of her, sweatpants laying low on her hips, nothing but a sports bra covering her chest. Paige's face formed a deep frown, mad at herself when she noticed the slight redness of Emily's eyes, her makeup slightly smudged around the rim of them, barely being noticeable in the darkness of the room._

 _Paige went to move towards the back of their apartment, noticing the lone plate on the table still full as she passed it. She quickly changed into her sleep clothes before walking back into the living room and picking Emily up off the couch as gently as she could._

 _Despite her best efforts the movement caused Emily to move a little in her arms as she walked her to their bedroom, "Hey." Paige said as Emily jostled around, her eyes opening a little to be met with a guilt ridden look on Paige's face as she dropped her down onto their bed softly._

 _"_ _Go back to sleep." Paige said._

 _"_ _You didn't come home." Emily pointed out the obvious a little groggily, the tiredness taking over her quickly._

 _She had waited an hour after Paige was supposed to be home before deciding that she wasn't going to make it and just eating her dinner alone. Waiting another hour after that before changing into something more comfortable and settling on the couch to wait up for Paige, eventually drifting off to sleep._

 _Paige looked away for a moment, moving around to climb in bed next to Emily who turned her head to lazily look at Emily, "I know." Paige answered, the guilt of coming home to Emily like that still consuming her, "One of my bosses asked me to do a little extra work and I-"_

 _"_ _Lost track of time." Emily cut in, finishing off for Paige._

 _Paige looked away from Emily again, the sad, sleepy look on the woman's face making her somehow feel even worse then she already did, "I'm sorry."_

 _Emily simply stared at the side of Paige's face as the brunette stared up at the ceiling, "It's okay." Emily responded in a soft whisper, Paige dropping her head to the side to look at Emily, "I'm used to it." She told Paige before turning over slowly, her back to the woman. She pulled the covers tighter around herself closing her eyes and easily falling back asleep within the next couple of minutes._

 _Paige on the other hand had a hard time sleeping that night. She knew she was hurting Emily and she really wanted to stop. She was going to be better. Tomorrow she was going to be here. She had to be. Things between her and Emily were worse than they had ever been. They had gone through rough patches but things had never been this bad._

 _She hated it._

 _She was going to be better._

 _..._

"I knew I was going to leave." Emily admitted heavy heartedly.

Paige's head shot up in surprise. They had moved into the living room to talk out their past a little but neither of them had said anything in the few minutes they had been sitting in there. And she wasn't sure what she expected to come out of Emily's mouth but it sure in hell wasn't that admission.

Emily shook her head slowly, "I mean not really." She added, "I just- I was sitting there waiting up for you again and it just- I couldn't do it anymore."

Paige swallowed hard, imagining Emily sitting in their old apartment alone contemplating leaving her.

"I never had thought about leaving you," Emily clarified before continuing, "but that night the thought kind of hit me all at once. Just this thought that I wasn't happy. I was miserable and the question of why I was even still there popped into my head. A simple, what's the point?"

Paige's eyes moved around Emily's face, the woman in front of her seemingly in her own world at the recollection of what she was explaining.

Emily let out a small laugh, surprising Paige so much that the brunette flinched slightly when it left Emily's mouth, "You should've seen me." Emily said, "I worked myself up into this complete fury. Pacing around the living room waiting for you." She took in a deep breath, "I was really planning on giving you a piece of my mind when you got home." She said, trailing off as she looked down into her lap trying to hold herself together.

"I was going to tell you." Emily said, a certain frustration coming through her voice, "I was going to be upfront and say I'm leaving you if things don't change." Emily confessed, the words making Paige shudder in her spot.

When Emily didn't continue Paige reached out and put her hand on Emily's knee, encouraging her to carry on.

"I thought if I said it. If I just put it out there." Emily pushed out through tears, "Even if it was an empty threat at the time, it would get you to do something. Fight for whatever was left of us."

"But I never came home." Paige finished in a whisper, remembering coming home to find Emily asleep on the couch.

"When I woke up and saw you I couldn't do it." Emily clarified, "I was so mad. So fed up with it all but there you were, apologizing again." She paused for a moment, "I could tell you felt bad. You've never been good at hiding your emotions. It was obvious you felt guilty. I just didn't care anymore."

Paige let out a shaky breath before taking a deep one back in, it all being hard to hear despite it all having occurred years ago. She had spent many nights up wondering what went wrong. What made Emily walk out the door. Now she was sitting in the Field's living room getting an answer and she wasn't sure how she felt about it all.

"When I woke up the next morning I thought about fighting it out. Saying what I wanted to the night before, but leaving wasn't an empty threat anymore." Emily confessed.

"Before I left that morning you knew you were going to leave didn't you?" Paige asked, not sure if she wanted to know the honest answer.

"I knew that it was your last chance." Emily stated truthfully.

"Before I left you were mad but before I was out the door you stopped me." Paige recalled, a little bit of anger rising in her involuntarily as she pieced that morning together, "You were saying goodbye." She finally concluded.

"I had decided that if you didn't come home early like you said you were going to then I was done." Emily confirmed, "I knew if you were there I would never actually leave and even after I decided that, you don't know how hard it actually was for me. Sitting there all day hoping you'd prove me wrong. That you wouldn't let me down that time. Just to have it happen again."

Paige shook her head as she stood up to put a little distance between her and Emily, "I can't believe you would just leave me like that. Without a word?!" She said, her voice rising.

"You and I both know that I would've never left if you were there." Emily fought back.

"Doesn't that say something?" Paige asked as she turned to face her for a brief moment before she began moving around the room anxiously, "Don't you think that that meant something?"

"I waited Paige!" Emily screamed, her emotions getting the best of her, "For hours, I waited for you to come home. To catch me or stop me, I don't know to do anything. But you didn't!"

"Don't you think I at least deserved the chance to know?" Paige asked, digging her finger into her chest as she looked at Emily intensely, "I didn't deserve to come home and find you just gone."

"No." Emily said blatantly, surprising herself just as much as Paige, "I gave you the chance to fight for us time and time again. You're the one who didn't do anything with it." She stated, truly believing in what she was saying, it feeling good to finally get it off her chest, "Maybe that's selfish and maybe it's unfair to you but don't you think you acted the same way towards me?"

"I didn't leave." Paige maintained.

"I didn't want to." Emily sighed, "But I felt like I had no choice."

...

 _"_ _Hey Em?" Paige shook Emily gently, the ravened haired woman's eyes forcing themselves opened slowly, "You have to get up, you're going to be late to work." Paige said, gesturing to the clock on the nightstand._

 _Emily looked over and saw that she had slept passed the time she usually got up. She forced herself into a sitting position, "Thanks." She mumbled to Paige, "I don't think I'm going to go in today."_

 _Paige looked down at her curiously, "Why not?"_

 _Emily shrugged, avoiding looking at Paige while she climbed out of bed, "I don't feel that well." She offered weakly as she moved towards the bathroom._

 _Paige followed behind her, "Is this about last night?" She asked knowingly._

 _Emily sighed heavily as she looked at herself in the mirror, catching a glance of Paige in the mirror, the woman leaning against the doorway her eyes trained on Emily's through the mirror._

 _"_ _I just don't feel well." She said, leaving it at that, "And some of us can manage to miss a day of work without the world ending." She added under her breath but well aware that Paige could clearly hear her because of their close proximity and the quietness of the apartment._

 _"_ _So that's a yes." Paige grumbled as she watched Emily start going through her morning routine to get ready, "I get it, you're mad but what do you want me to do?"_

 _"_ _You keep asking me that Paige." Emily stated angrily before stopping herself. Closing her eyes and taking a calming breath as she leaned her hands flat against the counter, putting all her weight on them and dropping her head down, "I'm just tired okay?"_

 _Paige nodded even though Emily couldn't see her, reaching out to put her hand on Emily's shoulder and squeeze it reassuringly but Emily recoiled from her as soon as her fingers made contact with her, moving away and turning the water to the shower on, without giving Paige a second glance._

 _"_ _Umm, I have to go to work but I'll be home early tonight." Paige said even though she could tell it didn't mean much to Emily at this point._

 _Paige waited a moment for Emily to look at her but when she didn't Paige just turned to leave. But when she got close to the front door a voice breaking through the room stopped her, "Wait." Emily called out, already coming up to Paige._

 _Paige turned around to find Emily right next to her, surprised when Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's waist immediately and buried her head into Paige's chest, "I love you." Emily said, Paige easily picking up on the scratchiness of her voice._

 _Paige's arms wrapped back around Emily naturally, kissing the top of her head as she squeezed her tightly, "I love you too." She said, "I'll be back early. I promise."_

 _Emily looked up at her with hopeful eyes but Paige could see the slight doubt in them. She dropped one more kiss to the top of Emily's head before saying a quick goodbye and slipping out the door. Emily stood frozen in her spot, staring at the closed door, swallowing hard as she glanced around the apartment._

 _The day had gone by slow for Emily. She spent most of the day laying around, watching the clock closely, the time for Paige to come home not coming quick enough for her. But it eventually came and much to her disappointment Paige had yet to walk through the front door._

 _It was around 6 p.m. when the sun rapidly began to set and Emily made up her mind that she couldn't take this anymore. She was miserable and it wasn't getting better, she had tried and she didn't feel like Paige was. She was sitting on the edge of the couch in the living room, leg bouncing nervously as she chewed at her thumbnail timidly._

 _She eventually worked herself up into an angry mood, recalling all the nights she's spent sat up alone waiting on someone who had somewhere along the way turned into someone who she couldn't rely on keeping their word. In her frustration she hastily stood up from the couch and stormed into their bedroom, immediately going to the closet and pulling a suitcase down off one of the shelves._

 _Emily threw it opened and started to throw her stuff in without really thinking. The suitcase quickly filling much to Emily's frustration. She shoved as much as she could in it before zipping it shut and pulling it out into the living room, setting it against the wall right next to the front door before moving back to the bedroom._

 _She gathered up as much of her stuff as she could, throwing some of it in bags and simply walking some of the other stuff to her car downstairs. She knew she probably looked crazy to other tenants in the apartment building who she passed on her multiple trips to the car, tears streaming down her face freely._

 _It had taken her a little more than an hour to throw all of her things into her car._

 _She had completely cleared her side of the closet out and taken all of her things out of the few drawers that were on the dresser in the bedroom. She had gathered the few electronics she had littered around the house. Even her bathroom stuff had been taken and packed into a small bag that was now sitting in the car downstairs. She didn't feel like she needed anything else from the apartment._

 _Now she was sat on the edge of a chair in the kitchen, the only thing left in the apartment that she would take being the first suitcase she packed that was still sitting against the wall by the front door. The sun had set and the house was dark, the only light coming from the dim light that was attached to the ceiling by the front door._

 _Paige was supposed to be home at least an hour ago, part of her had hoped Paige would come home while she was packing. Catch her in the act and stop her from doing something stupid like this._

 _But she didn't._

 _She didn't come home. She didn't stop her. Not yet anyway._

 _Emily waited thirty more minutes but when the front door never opened she found herself giving up on the image of Paige bursting through the door, spotting the suitcase and fighting for her. She swallowed hard, not bothering to wipe the tears that streamed down her face steadily._

 _She looked down at the ring on her left hand, twisting it around her finger anxiously, a hard sob racking through her entire body as she slipped it off of her finger and set it on the table next to her. Her fingers rested against the ring, pushing it into the table for a few moments before she retracted her hand and stared at the ring sitting on the table, nothing around it._

 _She closed her eyes, finally wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, her vision blurred by the water running out of them._

 _She pulled herself together as much as she could for the moment, grabbing an old grocery list that had been abandoned on the table, flipping it over and grabbing a pen quickly jotting down a few words before slipping the wrinkled slip of paper under the ring, making her way to the front door before she changed her mind._

 _She grabbed the suitcase and opened the front door, glancing back into the apartment one last time, taking a deep breath before shutting the door behind her and locking it. She made it to her car, stuffing the suitcase in the trunk with the rest of her things, glancing around the parking lot one last time for any sign of Paige before backing out of her spot and driving to her parents' house._

 _..._

"Well this doesn't feel like it helped any." Paige acknowledged a little awkwardly, now sitting on the other side of the room, putting plenty of distance between her and Emily.

Their fighting had eventually halted and no one had said anything in a while. Both taking a moment to calm themselves down a little and process everything they had just discussed.

Emily sighed from her spot on the couch, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, "We see things differently. We're both hurt for different reasons and I don't know how to change that." She admitted, glancing up at Paige cautiously.

Paige met Emily's eyes, seeing the genuine worry in them as they stared back into her own. She took a deep breath and stood up, slowly making her way over to Emily and dropping down onto the couch next to her carefully, "I don't think we're ever going to be able to change that." She responded honestly before shrugging, "Maybe we both just have to let it go."

A small wet laugh came out of Emily's mouth as she looked over at Paige, "Yeah because we've done such a good job at that so far." She said, bringing the back of her hand up to wipe at her face.

A weak smile briefly came across Paige's face at the comment, looking away from Emily for a moment before returning her gaze to her, "Look let's face it. You're never going to forget that I wasn't there for you back then, that I didn't try harder to make things work between us." She accepted, "And I'm never going to forget that you left."

Emily nodded in agreement, "So what do we do then?"

"We let it go." Paige considered aloud.

"That's not going to happen and you know it." Emily argued calmly.

"I don't know." Paige disagreed with a slight shrug of her shoulders, "I mean I had a hard time with it obviously and when you showed up with a girl it didn't make things any better. But the last few days, having you here…with me. Feeling that way again with you." Paige emphasized, "I don't know, it's made it a little easier to let go then it ever has been."

Emily found the corner of her lips lifting as she looked into Paige's eyes. Paige had always been easy to read for her and now wasn't any different. She could see the honesty in her eyes, a hint of fear behind them. But Emily saw something in Paige's eyes that she had previously believed she'd never see again. Love. And in that moment Emily understood what Paige was saying. She could feel her anger slowly slipping away. All the regrets and past resentments that she had carried with her for the last few years fading away.

Emily reached her hand up to cup the side of Paige's face gently, her fingers lightly tracing down the brunette's face, "I want to let it go." She said in a whisper, "I want to do whatever we have to do to make it work this time. I want you."

Paige nodded slowly, her gaze locked onto Emily's, the soft trace of her fingers still trailing down her face putting her in a slight daze. Paige couldn't take it anymore, she reached out and wrapped her arm around Emily's waist carefully, pulling the woman closer to her as she connected their lips in a soft kiss.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! So I'm not going to lie, I got a little behind and really had to crank most of this chapter out tonight. Considering that I just finished this chapter and it's currently past 2 a.m. I really cannot will myself to proofread it so sorry for any mistakes that may be in this chapter. Anyway, as always please feel free to leave a review or send me a PM (whatever you want) to let me know what you thought of the chapter (good or bad). I actually really liked how this one turned out though so I really hope you all enjoy it :)**

"So you're telling me you two still haven't slept together?" Sam said exasperated, "Oh come on," She harassed when Paige shook her head, "seriously, I thought you two would be going at it like crazy by this point. It's been years. I can literally feel the sexual tension oozing out of you guys anytime I'm in a room with the both of you." She stated dramatically.

Paige rolled her eyes but couldn't help the laugh that slipped out of her lips as she grabbed one of the pillows off the couch and threw it across the room towards Sam, who caught it with a smirk, "We're taking things slow." She said with a shrug.

"Oh for crying out loud." Sam threw her hands up, "You know I lost good money to Mr. Fields because you two got back together at the speed of light and now I'm about to lose more money to Derek because you two suddenly want to be prudes."

"First of all, you shouldn't be betting on my love life. Especially with Derek for obvious reasons." Paige argued, "Secondly, Wayne definitely stole your money. We're not even officially back together."

Sam looked at Paige like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Do you genuinely not know that you're dating Emily?"

"I mean sure we've been on a few casual dates but we're not like girlfriends." She said.

"Please I've seen the two of you together since you started trying to work things out and been going on dates." The blonde stated, "Between the hand holding and the kissing and God how can anyone not notice all those sickeningly lovey glances." She trailed off fake gagging.

"There are no lovey glance." Paige argued with a glare, "Whatever that even means."

"Whatever you say." Sam disregarded Paige's protests, "You two are basically back together, it's just the both of you are afraid to actually admit it."

"Not true." Paige disagreed with a shake of her head although now that Sam said it out loud she couldn't help but wonder if it was in fact true and she just hadn't realized it.

"I say you pull that old engagement ring out of your bedside drawer and give it back to her." Sam said nonchalantly.

Paige's head whipped around to look at Sam, "I thought you swore never to mention that again."

Sam sighed and moved to sit down next to Paige, "Look I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. You know I'm just joking around with you, but I do think that you and Emily shouldn't be afraid of taking the next step in your relationship." She said genuinely.

Paige looked at Sam for a moment thoughtfully, "What if it doesn't work out?"

Sam recognized the slightly terrified look in Paige's eyes, something you'd see in a child, but it was understandable after everything she went through after her and Emily's breakup. She didn't blame Paige for being afraid of it all happening again.

"What if it does?" Sam countered with a small smile, "I know you're scared." She acknowledge, squeezing Paige's knee comfortingly, "But you haven't been completely full since she left and we all could see that but now you have a chance to make things right. Both of you." She proposed, "You make each other happy, stop denying yourselves of that because you're scared."

Paige dropped her head into her hands. She couldn't help but overthink the entire situation. Her and Emily had been getting along seamlessly again the last week or so. She was scared to cross the line though. Cross the line between mindless longing for a first love she hadn't seen in years and moving into the territory of truly being in love again. She could already feel herself getting back there. Being helplessly in love with Emily Fields and it terrified her how easy it was to get back to that place.

"It shouldn't be this easy." Paige commented.

"I don't know if I'd call what you and Emily put yourselves through easy." Sam chuckled, successfully getting a small smile from Paige, even if she could see the slight annoyance on the brunettes face, "You love her Paige." Sam stated with a shrug, "Don't let fear get in the way of what you want, you'll regret it later."

Paige sighed loudly, "Damnit I really hate it when you're right."

Sam smiled widely at Paige, "So always then?" Paige shook her head and shoved Sam's shoulder causing the blonde to fall on her back and break out into a fit of giggles.

...

 _Paige slipped her key into the door, dreading going into the apartment. Between doing her own work and going through a little extra after her boss had asked her too, she lost track of time. She knew Emily would be mad. Hell after last night she knew that mad was probably an understatement._

 _She sighed as she turned the key in the door and walked into the apartment hoping that Emily had gone to bed and she wouldn't have to argue with her tonight. She was exhausted and the last thing she needed was to stay up all night fighting with Emily._

 _Paige felt a small sense of relief when she walked in to find the apartment in complete silence, the lights off as far as she could see. She set her bag on the stand by the door and then shrugged her blazer off her shoulders routinely, moving sluggishly into the kitchen where she quickly noticed that Emily hadn't left any food out for her like she usually did. She let out a small groan, rubbing at her temple roughly knowing she was definitely in trouble._

 _She whipped herself up something as quietly as she could, starving from being out all day. Grabbing the plate when she was finally done and setting it on the kitchen table with a heavy sigh, simultaneously dropping down into one of the chairs with a soft thud._

 _Paige took a small bite of her food, leaning her elbow on the table and supporting her head with her hand as she chewed absentmindedly simply going through the motions at this point._

 _The diamond ring sitting on the other side of the table to her left didn't go unnoticed for very long at all, it catching her eye fairly quickly._

 _She dropped her fork down onto her plate, it clinking somewhat loudly against the glass. Paige wiped her mouth with the side of her hand before reaching out and grabbing the ring confused as to why it was sitting out here. She rolled the ring around between her fingers for a moment, studying it as if she didn't know what it was as she wondered if Emily had purposefully taken it off to show Paige that she was really mad or if Emily had taken it off while she was cooking something for herself, which she commonly did, and simply had forgotten to put it back on._

 _Paige set the ring back down on the table next to her dinner plate, leaning back in her chair and glancing back towards their bedroom curiously before moving her attention back to the table, finally noticing the small wrinkled paper sitting there with Emily's handwriting scribbled messily across it._

 _She grabbed it and let her eyes run over it, her body automatically sitting up straighter as she read over the very few words._

 _"_ _Emily." Paige called out towards the back of the apartment, slamming the crumbled up piece of paper back down onto the table as she stood up and made her way down the hallway, "Em!" She called out again a little more frantically this time._

 _She walked into their bedroom, instantly noticing the bed still made up and Emily nowhere to be found, "Are you kidding me." She said with a frustrated growl._

 _Paige sat down on the edge of the bed after pulling her phone out of the pocket of her pants, calling Emily's number only for it to be immediately sent to voicemail indicating that Emily's phone had been turned off. Paige groaned again, tossing the useless device onto the bed, the dresser catching her eye this time when she saw one of the drawers left slightly opened. She walked over and pulled it open the rest of the way seeing that it was completely empty slamming it shut and opening another one that Emily used finding it empty as well._

 _She didn't even have to look in the closet to know that it was most likely vacated of everything that belonged to Emily._

 _Emily was gone. She left. And Paige couldn't believe it._

 _She doesn't know when it started but she finally noticed the steady line of tears streaming down her face, her breathing ragged as she tried to figure out what was going on. She put her hand over her chest, trying to steady her breathing as she wiped harshly and carelessly at her face, the tears blurring her vision._

 _Paige ran to the front of the house, grabbing her keys on the way out and not bothering to lock the apartment door behind her as she made her way to her truck as fast as she could. She pulled out of her parking spot, her tires squealing against the pavement as she sped out onto the street._

 _Emily didn't have anywhere else to go besides her parents' house. Paige knew she'd be there. She knew that if she could just talk to Emily that she could calm her down and this whole thing would just be chalked up to another fight. The only thing that worried her, that let doubt seep into her mind was the fact that Emily had never done this before. She'd been mad in the past sure but she had never actually packed her things and left._

 _Paige shook those thoughts out of her head as the Field's home came into view and she pulled into the driveway, parking her truck a little crookedly but not caring. She jumped out of the truck and jogged up to the front door banging on it loudly, not caring how late it was._

 _"_ _Emily!"_

 _Paige screamed her name into the closed door, banging her fist against it again when nobody came to the door._

 _After a few moments the door cracked open, Paige standing so close to it that it startled her back slightly when it opened enough to reveal Wayne. Paige simply tried to push past him and directly inside the house but Wayne grabbed her, not letting her by him._

 _"_ _I know she's here." Paige fought weakly, tears threatening to fall from her eyes again._

 _Wayne sighed heavily, tightening his grip on the young woman when she tried to pull herself out of his hold, "She's sleeping." He informed her._

 _Paige's eyes glanced between the stairs and Wayne for a few moment trying to decide what to do before she stopped fighting him, "I just want to talk to her, that's all." She pleaded._

 _Wayne nodded, "I know." He said softly. It broke his heart to see Paige's tear stained face, her eyes red and puffy, defeat clear on her face, "Just let her calm down, everything will be okay."_

 _Paige shook her head, "She's never left." She mumbled, dropping her eyes to the ground._

 _Wayne didn't know how to respond to that so he just pulled Paige into his arms, trying his best to bring some comfort to her. Paige wasted no time burying her head into the man's chest and letting a loud ugly sob break through her._

 _The two stood like that for a while, neither of them saying anything at all, the only sounds breaking through the dark living room being Paige's harsh breathing and muffled crying into Wayne's t-shirt._

 _"_ _In the morning when both of you have calmed down, you can work it out." Wayne tried as he rubbed Paige's back lightly, "You two always work things out."_

 _Paige pulled away from Wayne a little, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, "Yeah." Paige agreed weakly although she wasn't sure this was going to be like the other times, "Umm I'll be back first thing in the morning." She added sniffling, not being able to look Emily's dad in the eye at the moment._

 _"_ _Are you going to be okay?" Wayne asked warily, he didn't want to leave the girl alone, she was clearly upset and he was worried about the brunette in front of him, "I can drive you back home. I can even stay with you if you don't want to be alone." He suggested, knowing that the girl was far too prideful to agree but hoping she would._

 _Paige shook her head, "No really I'm fine." She said, taking a few steps towards the front door, "Thanks though Mr. Fields."_

 _Wayne nodded, walking Paige out of the house and down to her truck, "Drive carefully okay." He said as Paige climbed in her truck, "And try to get some sleep. If you need anything at all just call, okay?"_

 _Paige nodded, trying to give Wayne her best smile, "I'll see you tomorrow."_

 _Wayne gave Paige another hug, the angle a little awkward with her sitting in her truck but he wanted her to feel like she had someone if she needed him, "I love you kid." He said, kissing the side of her head before pulling away and shutting the truck door, standing in the driveway and watching as Paige pulled out and disappeared around the corner._

 _..._

"Hey." Paige said a little surprised to see Emily on her front porch, "What are you doing here?"

"My parents went out to run some errands together and Derek is hanging out with some of his friends so the house is empty." Emily explained, I didn't have anything to do so I'd thought I'd come see you." She said biting her lip a little nervously, "I hope that's okay."

Paige smiled back at her, "Of course." She reassured, pulling the door open wider and stepping to the side to let Emily in, "You can join us for lunch, I'm sure they'll be plenty." She invited as Emily walked past her and into the house.

Emily stopped and turned her head to look at Paige, eyebrows pulled together in question, "Us?"

"Oh, yeah." Paige shut the door, turning to face Emily, "Sam's here." She gestured towards the kitchen, "We were hanging out earlier and she offered to stay and make lunch."

"Oh." Emily said glancing in the direction of the kitchen briefly before looking back at Paige, "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Paige shook her head and gave Emily another smile, reaching out and grabbing her wrist gently knowing the woman was going to offer to leave, "Em, it's fine." She said squeezing Emily's wrist softly, "Stay." Emily couldn't hold back the grin on her face and even though she looked down at her feet to try to hide it Paige caught a glimpse of it making her own smile grow, "I'm going to take that as a yes?"

Emily nodded bringing her eyes back up to meet Paige's, "Yeah I suppose I can stick around for a little while if you're sure Sam won't mind."

Paige dismissed the thought completely, "She won't care. Come on." She said leading Emily towards the kitchen, "Hey Sam, Emily's here." Paige announced as she made her way into the kitchen, throwing her thumb to point at Emily who was following behind her.

"Hey Emily." Sam greeted without missing a beat, turning her attention away from the stove and towards Paige and Emily for a brief moment to send a bright smile their way before going back to what she was doing before.

"Hi." Emily said, the greeting falling flat as her eyes roamed over Sam who was moving around the kitchen like it was her own.

Sam was standing in front of the stove, trying to manage whatever was in the two pots in front of her, clad in short denim shorts and a bikini top that made Emily's jaw clench slightly. She moved her eyes towards Paige who had already sat down on one of the stools at the counter, finally noticing her wet hair.

"You guys go swimming in the lake?" She asked, feeling annoyed at the thought, completely ignoring the reason why.

Paige nodded in confirmation, "Yeah. It was so nice outside we couldn't resist ourselves."

"We'd still be out there but this one wouldn't stop complaining about how hungry she was." Sam blamed, throwing an accusatory smirk over her shoulder in the brunette's direction.

"Okay can someone please explain to me how everything is always on me?" Paige demanded overdramatically causing Sam to giggle, Emily immediately noticing the chain reaction smile the giggle slipping out of the blonde's mouth caused on Paige's own face.

Emily had to physically resist rolling her eyes at the interaction, immediately regretting coming over here. She moved to sit down in the empty stool next to Paige, giving the brunette a somewhat forced smile in the process.

Paige noticed the fake smile instantly, her head tilting slightly as she tried to catch Emily's eye to ask what was wrong but didn't get the chance, Sam's voice cutting through the kitchen interrupting her.

"Alright, it's about done if you guys want to dig in." Sam announced as she stared down at the food in front of her.

Paige shook the previous thoughts out of her head and popped up out of her seat without hesitation, "Finally." She let out with a smile knowing that it would irritate Sam. Paige came up behind Sam, snatching the large stirring spoon out of her hand and tasting a little of the food before scrunching her face up and shaking her head, "Did you leave out the salt again?"

"No." The blonde said pushing Paige out of the way, "You know it wouldn't kill you to eat something that isn't heavily seasoned. My food is naturally flavored." She argued, "It's healthy and good."

"I don't know why she worries about my sodium intake." Paige said offhandedly in Emily's direction, clearly trying to get her on her side, "I'm perfectly healthy as is. A little salt isn't going to kill me." She said reaching up to open a cabinet high over the stove where she kept the seasoning.

If Emily wasn't already feeling her jealousy rise with the familiar banter between Sam and Paige, it was hard to ignore when her eyes dropped down to the brunette's hand resting against the bare skin of Sam's lower back as she reached up over her to pull out the seasoning from the cabinet.

It was one thing for Emily to know that Sam and Paige's relationship had progressed into something more over the years. But to sit and witness the comfort that they clearly felt around each other was a whole other thing. It put images in her head that she never wanted. Paige's hands had ran across much more intimate places than Sam's back and Emily had no right to hate it. To be angry about it. But she couldn't swallow down the bitterness she felt as she watched the two interact so naturally.

Just knowing now that Sam had clearly been in this house. Had spent enough time and had felt comfortable enough to act as if it was her own home. It got under her skin. And suddenly she felt as if she didn't belong here. As if she invaded a private night between the two who were still bickering happily a few feet in front of her like she wasn't even present.

She briefly thought about leaving as she stood up but an unexpected territorial feeling came over her. She knew it was childish. That Paige and her weren't technically together. But she didn't care. She wanted Paige to be hers and only hers. She knew it wasn't a competition and that it was petty but she wanted Paige to choose her.

"She's going to do what she wants anyway." Emily said coming up behind Paige and resting her hand on her arm, letting her thumb graze the skin softly as she moved it up and down, "No point in trying to convince her of anything else." Emily told Sam, Paige nodding down at Emily with a smile.

"She's right Samantha." The brunette said gesturing to Emily with her head as she smirked at the blonde.

"She's like this because you used to give into whatever she wanted." Sam playfully blamed Emily.

"What can I say, she's hard to say no to." Emily responded, winking at Paige for good measure.

Sam rolled her eyes at the comment and the way Paige seemed to eat it up as she threw Emily one of those lovey gazes. It was clear to Sam what was starting to happen but instead of saying anything she chose to ignore it and just do her best to get through lunch without any issues.

They ate at the table all together, small talk filling the room easily for the most part. Sam easily continuing to pick up on the jealousy in Emily's eyes basically every time her and Paige interacted, she finally having enough of it.

"Alright well I'm going to go change and then head out." Sam announced dropping her plate in the sink when she was done eating, Paige and Emily still sitting at the kitchen table despite their similarly empty plates.

"Aww do you really have to go." Paige whined from her seat.

Sam tried her best to resist the laugh that was bubbling up in her throat when she immediately saw the sour look on Emily's face at Paige's comment, "Yeah, I have some stuff I have to do." She said vaguely as she made her way out of the room, it only taking her a few strides before she was out of sight.

Paige smiled over at Emily, "Here." She said standing up and grabbing both her and Emily's plate, "I got it." She offered, moving towards the sink to rinse the plates off.

Emily watched Paige for a moment before deciding to stand up, following Paige's path until she was behind her. Emily leaned back against the counter opposite of where Paige was standing. Paige eventually turning the sink water off and turning around somewhat surprised to find Emily standing across from her, not having heard the woman move.

"What?" Paige asked, noticing the intense look on Emily's face.

She had seen that look before but she couldn't put her finger on it. Emily sauntering closer to her with said look causing her to lose her train of thought completely.

Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's shoulders, the brunette's hands instinctively moving to grip around Emily's waist. Emily didn't waste any time, gripping the back of Paige's neck with one of her hands and pulling her in for a kiss.

While Paige was slightly caught off guard it didn't take her long to respond to the kiss, allowing her lips to move naturally against Emily's. Their lips moved with each other in a sort of dance, easily and familiarly.

Paige pulled away, her clouded eyes looking into Emily's, "Sam's going to catch us." She pointed out, eyes shifting over Emily's shoulder and towards the hallway Sam disappeared down.

"I don't want to think about Sam while making out with you." Emily stated, leaning back in to connect their lips without a second thought.

Paige allowed it for a moment but pulled away when she heard a door in the distance open. However when Emily went to step away Paige tightened her grip on the woman's waist with a smile, keeping Emily against her as Sam walked back into the room.

"I'll see you guys around." Sam said with a short wave, knowing exactly what she was interrupting, throwing a smirk and thumbs up towards Paige without another word before moving out of the kitchen and leaving the house.

Emily looked at Paige curiously, "What was that about?"

Paige shrugged, slowly backing Emily up against the counter opposite of the one they were just leaning against, "Wouldn't you rather go back to what we were doing instead of talking about Sam?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mmm, yeah I think that's a good idea." She agreed easily. She let Paige trap her between herself and the counter, oddly enjoying the way the cold countertop dug into her back as Paige pushed against her and the brunette recapture her lips.

It was easy to lose track of time when they were like this. Bodies close and lips moving effortlessly. Shaky breaths shared between them as their mouths briefly parted for air while changing angles. The next thing Emily knew she had her hands buried in Paige's hair, a small moan escaping her as Paige's fingertips slipped under her shirt and scratched lightly at her bare back.

There movements became braver as time passed around them, a tentative hand slipping under a shirt turning into Paige gripping Emily's thighs and lifting her up onto the counter, Emily's legs wrapping around Paige's waist without hesitation and the brunette's fingertips confidently slipping under the waistline of the back of Emily's tight jeans.

Emily separated her lips from Paige's, the need for air finally overtaking her desire for the woman in front of her. Paige appreciating the small break but letting her lips wander down to Emily's neck anyways, the hot sharp breaths coming from Paige's mouth as she did so driving Emily even crazier.

Emily pushed Paige away from her slightly, just enough to reach down and pull her own shirt over her head, dropping it to the floor without a care before pulling Paige back towards her but being pulled out of her trance when Paige stopped her from reconnecting their lips.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, anxiety that she had gone too far taking over her.

Paige shook her head, "Nothing." She said, her eyes roaming over Emily's black bra and down the naturally tanned skin she once knew so well and was no doubt looking forward to familiarize herself with.

"Are you sure we're ready for this?" Paige asked cautiously.

Emily draped her arms around Paige's neck, forcing the woman to come as close to her as she could get her, "If you aren't ready yet, that's okay. We can wait." Emily said, giving Paige a genuine smile to let her know that she was telling the truth, "But if you are ready," she continued, leaning in to kiss Paige softly, "I really want you right now." She whispered against Paige's lips, sending a shudder through the brunette's body it going into overdrive when Emily bit her lip gently and tugged on it before letting it go and pulling back to look into Paige's eyes.

...

 _Paige dragged her feet as she climbed the stairs up to her and Emily's apartment, lazily opening the door and walking in, slamming the door a little too loudly behind her considering how late it was. She carelessly tossed her keys over by her bag, not caring when they bounced off of it and down onto the floor in a loud jingle._

 _She sat on the edge of the couch, letting her elbows rest on her thighs as she buried her head in her hands. It didn't take her long to notice the eerie silence that filled the apartment. She lifted her head and let her eyes wander around the apartment, from her spot in the living room she couldn't even tell that anything was different. Emily clearly hadn't taken much besides her clothes._

 _Paige wondered if that meant she was planning to come back._

 _If this was some kind of scared straight tactic. She never thought she'd hope for that but right now this being some sort of cruel stunt instead of Emily actually deciding to up and leave was sounding pretty good to her._

 _She couldn't have been sitting there for more than a few minutes when a thought crossed her mind. Is this what it felt like to Emily? Sitting in an empty apartment hoping your fiancée would walk through the door?_

 _She's sure it was different but as she sat there in the dark she couldn't help but feel cold and lonely._

 _She stood up abruptly, a sudden rage taking over as she made her way across the apartment grabbing an unlucky mug that had been left on the counter and chucking it aggressively across the room. The mug shattered against the corner of the wall it hit, Paige not stopping to notice the hole it tore through the wall._

 _She kicked the kitchen chair over with a grunt before turning and putting her fist through the hallway wall on her way back to her and Emily's bedroom, instantly regretting it when a steady throb immediately began. The new form of physical pain in her hand causing her to stop, pulling her out of her angry daze quickly._

 _She stood in the middle of her and Emily's bedroom, staring at her hand as a little blood trickled out of a cut and down her knuckles._

 _With her breathing ragged and her heart racing, silent tears rushing down her cheeks going unnoticed as her lip quivered._

 _She shook her head slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose at the same time as she tried to wrap her head around the situation she had suddenly found herself in._

 _She wasn't sure how long she stood there in the middle of the bedroom crying but considering by the time she moved to the bathroom some of the blood on her hand had already begun to dry she figured it had been quite some time._

 _She cleaned up her hand, ignoring the constant throb that was still existing before she stripped down and threw on some shorts and climbing onto their bed. She had finally stopped crying but another tear slipped out when the question of whether it was their bed or just hers now crossed her mind._

 _She tried her best but couldn't sleep at all, her eyes hardly leaving the opened bedroom door as she waited for morning, knowing that as soon as the sun came up the light form the living room window will seep into the hallway and she could head over to see Emily._

 _While it didn't come fast enough, morning did eventually come and Paige was out the door, not bothering to change out of the ragged t-shirt she was wearing and the old gym shorts. So focused on getting to Emily that she couldn't think about anything else._

 _She pulled up to the Field's house similarly to the night before and banged on the door impatiently, Wayne opening it up much quicker than he had last night._

 _"_ _Is she up yet?" Paige asked hurriedly, "What? What's wrong?" She asked when she noticed the sympathetic look Wayne was giving her._

 _Wayne shook his head, "She's gone."_

 _"_ _Gone?" Paige asked confused, "What do you mean she's gone?" Paige demanded, pushing past Wayne easily and rushing up the stairs towards Emily's room._

 _She burst through the door, her shoulders sagging in defeat when she saw no sign of Emily at all. She let the tears fall from her eyes without a fight this time, turning to sit on the corner of the bed in the room. She dropped her head into her hands, letting herself cry for a moment before rubbing at her face and trying to pull herself together._

 _When she lifted her head she noticed a picture frame on Emily's bedroom floor. She stood up and moved towards the object, leaning down to pick it up and turning it over in her hands to look at the picture she knew was in it. The image of her and Emily staring back at her making another sob come out of her, the newly crack down the middle of the frame new._

 _And she could feel it in that moment that this was real. That it wasn't a scare tactic at all._

 _Emily really left._

 _..._

Emily and Paige had managed to make it upstairs, brief stops to be pushed up against a wall here or to lose a shirt there being made along the way to Paige's room, the two finally ending up on Paige's bed.

Emily finally pulled away from Paige for a moment to let her eyes roam over Paige's pale skin, a small scar she had never seen before running down the side of Paige's left ribcage catching her eyes.

"It's from the car crash." Paige whispered as she watched Emily's fingertips gently trace the scar, noticing the frown form on her face, "There's another one right here." The brunette pointed out, twisting her arm to revel a scar a little bigger than the other running down the underside of her arm left arm."

Emily ran her fingers over that one too, studying the unknown marks carefully, "I'm okay." Paige promised, knowing that Emily was blaming herself for the marks on her body.

Emily looked into Paige's eyes, "I don't know what I would've done if something happened to you." Emily confessed, not waiting for an answer as she leaned down and kissed Paige's lips, putting everything she had into the kiss. Years of buildup fueling her.

Emily let her lips trail down Paige's neck before moving to her collar bone and then down her chest until she reached the scar, kissing it lightly her hands pushing Paige's hips down against the bed as the brunette squirmed beneath her.

Emily smiled against the smooth skin as she made her way back up to Paige's lips, reconnecting them in a heated kiss.

"Can I show you something?" Paige asked a little breathlessly against Emily's lips.

Emily pulled away and sat up straight, letting her hands rest lightly on Paige's bare abdomen, "Right now?"

Paige dropped her head back against the pillow behind her, biting her lip as she closed her eyes, finally forcing herself to nod her head, "Yeah."

"Yeah. Okay, what is it?" Emily peered down curiously at Paige whose eyes opened slowly.

Paige let her gaze linger on Emily's face for a moment before dropping her head to the side, bringing her hand up to grip Emily's side for leverage as she pulled herself up a little, leaning over and pulling the drawer on the bedside table open partially. Paige slipped her hand in the drawer, searching for a second before pulling out what she had been looking for.

"Here." The brunette said, her voice soft as she handed Emily what she had pulled out.

Emily grabbed both items wordlessly, immediately realizing what they were. Her eyes were glued to the engagement ring that had once had a home on her own ring finger. A small smile made its way onto her lips as she twisted the ring between her fingers and the small diamond caught the fading light seeping through the window as the sun began to set, emanating a sparkle.

She remembered getting it. Never wanting to take it off. It meant everything to her once upon a time.

But her smile quickly faded as she moved her attention to the wrinkled note in her other hand. She swallowed hard as she caught site of faded pen writing forming a small grocery list in Paige's swooping handwriting, physically having to will herself to flip it over, knowing that she would find her own hand writing on the other side.

 _'_ _I'm sorry I love you but I can't do this anymore'_

Eleven words.

The eleven unspoken words that changed their lives.

Eleven words that she hardly remembers writing down in her rush out the door.

She ran her thumb over the writing not being able to tear her eyes away. Now in her clear state of mind she wishes she had wrote something different back then. The short note seemed harsh. Unfair to leave behind nothing more than eleven words.

She dropped the ring and note down onto the mattress, the items feeling heavy in her hand, turning her head to the opposite side and staring down at the bedroom floor. They say you should live your life with no regrets but she had a lot of them. Leaving Paige the way she did was her biggest.

"Why did you want to show me that?"

Paige's eyes hadn't left Emily's face the entire time. While Emily studied the items, Paige had been studying her.

The way the ring brought a small smile to her face, how it quickly left when the flood of memories came over her as she looked at the note, the way her throat moved as she swallowed back her emotions. Paige could see it all as if she could see what was going on in Emily's mind. Every emotion she was experiencing.

Paige managed to push herself up into a sitting position, suddenly feeling vulnerable with their close proximity, Emily still straddling her hips and both of them missing clothing but it also made her feel closer to the woman than she had in years.

Paige put her hands over Emily's, urging her to let go of the ring and note, grabbing them herself when she did and looking down at them in her own hand, Emily finally turning her head and looking at Paige as she waited for an answer.

"I spent a lot of time looking at this." Paige admitted as if it was the deepest secret she had, "For months I stared at this stupid piece of paper." She added after a moment, a barely audible bitter laugh slipping from her lips as she shook her head, "It probably sounds ridiculous but it's all you left behind."

"Paige I-"

Paige shook her head, cutting Emily off immediately, "I was in the apartment for at least a half an hour before I even found it, you know." Tearing her eyes away from the note to look at Emily, "How is it possible to not know you're fiancé literally moved everything out of your apartment and left you? How do you miss that?"

Emily wanted to interject but ultimately decided against it, figuring that it was best to let Paige get whatever she needed to off her chest, simply resting her hand over Paige's hand and squeezing it lightly.

"I got it." Paige said, "It may have taken me longer than it should've, but I finally got it."

Emily shook her head, "Got what?" She asked not understanding.

"How much it hurts to sit in an empty house waiting for someone you love to come home and it not happening." The brunette shook her head again, trying to will herself not to cry, "You keep apologizing for leaving but I think I owe you an apology too." She said genuinely.

Emily gave Paige a soft smile tucking a rogue hair behind Paige's ear and letting her hand run down the side of her face softly before letting it rest on her neck lightly, "I wish I would've stayed."

"Don't do that." Paige said immediately, "What happened happened. We can't change it."

"I want you to know that it wasn't easy." Emily insisted, "I know you and I know you blamed yourself for it all but it wasn't your fault. Not entirely." She swore, making sure to stare into Paige's eyes so she understood, "There were so many nights where I almost called. Almost hopped on the next plane out and came back."

It wasn't much but the confession made Paige feel better. Knowing that it wasn't as easy for Emily to leave her as she had ultimately talked herself into. It gave her a certain ease hearing it come straight from the source.

"I know we can't change anything," Emily accepted, "But I want you to know that there wasn't a day I didn't think about you."

Paige could feel the words on the tip of her tongue as she stared at Emily. She could see it in the eyes staring back at her. She could feel it in the way her body warmed beneath Emily's. Her eyes racing, trying to escape her chest.

It scared her.

But this time she didn't care that it did.

She swallowed those three words down though, deciding that she didn't have to say them for Emily to know. Instead she connected their lips and she leaned back down onto the bed, eagerly pulling Emily down with her.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! Okay starting with the obvious, this chapter is VERY late, I know, and I am so so sorry. Truly no excuses, my life just genuinely got so busy and I simply did not have the time to write. But I finally got it done, so here it is and I really hope you all enjoy it since you had to wait an extra week for it. Also since I plan to wrap this story up very soon, if anyone wants to see something specific or anything like that feel free to send any suggestions in a review or send me a PM, whatever works for you. Alright, that's all I have so enjoy the new chapter :)**

Emily's eyes fluttered open slowly and in her slightly dazed state it took her a moment to realize where she was. A small smile creeping on her face though when she felt Paige's grip, steady and tight, around her waist. She sunk back into the bed with a deep sigh, the familiarity of the other woman's hold putting her at ease.

She had woken up in this room before, with the same arms wrapped around her. The bed was much smaller back then and the sheets a different color, but it still felt like she had flashed back in time for a moment. Like they were teenagers again and nothing had ever gotten between them. But there was something about their messy past that made Emily feel like their relationship, or whatever this was that they were doing, was stronger now.

They had their tough times and now they were getting through it. Emily smiled at that thought.

She had always pictured this moment. Waking up again in Paige's arms, them back together. She had imagined every scenario. Good, bad, a perfect balance of both. Scenarios where they lived a cliché happily ever after and others where Paige hated her and they never worked it out. But despite all that she had never imagined it quite like this. How they actually ended up here together in reality. But none of that mattered because she didn't care how they got here. The only thing that mattered to her was that they were here. Together. And it looked like they were going to manage to work it out despite everything that they had been through.

Emily shook all the thoughts from her head when she noticed the sun had gone down and despite herself not wanting to she figured she better get herself home. Emily tried to careful shift herself up into a sitting position but Paige's grip tightened, a groan escaping the brunette's mouth immediately.

Emily chuckled softly as she gave up and dropped back down onto the bed fully, Paige scooting closer, burying her face into the tanned skin of Emily's back.

"Where're you going?" Paige mumbled sleepily into the bare skin, nuzzling deeper in between Emily's shoulder blades and dropping a brief, lazy kiss onto the smooth skin, the warmth radiating off Emily soothing her back into drowsiness.

"It's late." Emily whispered, noticing how tired Paige was, "I should get back home."

Paige groaned in protest, Emily feeling the slight shake of the brunettes head, "No." She dragged out quietly, letting her lips press lightly to Emily's upper back again, "Just stay." She continued, dropping another kiss to the back of Emily's neck, letting her lips linger for a moment.

Emily couldn't stop the slight curve of her lips as she turned in Paige's arms to face her, letting her smile grow when she was met with Paige's relaxed face. Eyes shut, barely fighting the sleep threatening to take over her.

Paige feeling Emily staring peaked an eye open, not being able to stop the grin that formed on her own face when her eyes met Emily's, "I physically can't." Paige mumbled before Emily even said anything, simply burying her face into the pillow below her head with another groan.

"What?" Emily asked softly, eyebrows pulling together slightly, letting her hand move under the blanket to rest on Paige's bare hip.

"I know that look. You're eying me Fields." Paige responded, smirk hidden mostly by the pillow below her, "And truly you've officially worn me out."

Emily let out a soft laugh, shoving Paige gently, the other woman letting the action role her onto her back, "Be careful, your age is showing." Emily teased.

"Did you just call me old?" Paige asked, slightly offended.

Emily shrugged playfully, "Maybe." She offered, taking the opportunity to climb on top of Paige in one swift motion, what are you going to do about it?" She added playfully.

Paige's hands naturally drifted to hold Emily's hips, flipping her over onto her back suddenly so she was on top of her, pinning her to the bed skillfully, "You're going to get yourself in trouble." She stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Doesn't sound so bad." She thought aloud, biting her lip a little suggestively.

Paige stared down at Emily lovingly, admiring the way her hair fell messily around her face. It was a sight she hadn't seen in so long but the sight nonetheless clearly still had the same effect on her that it always had. Not being able to resist anymore, she leaned down to capture Emily's lips between her own. Lazily kissing her as she lowered her body on top of her, Emily's soft moan at the weight sending a chill down Paige's freshly woken body. The two of them laid there, letting their lips move against each other's lazily, hands roaming freely as nails scratched lightly across naked skin.

Paige was the first to pull away, dropping a kiss on Emily's cheek before climbing off of Emily and rolling onto her back, finding comfort in the way Emily immediately draped an arm over her waist and scooted closer to her, their bodies molding together seamlessly.

"This doesn't feel real." Paige mumbled quietly out of nowhere.

The softly spoken statement caught Emily by surprise and caused her to frown. Tilting her head to the side to look over at Paige who had her eyes staring up at the ceiling, refusing to look at Emily. The raven haired woman rolled partially on top of Paige, crossing her arms over the woman's chest and resting her chin on them as she looked at her curiously, "Why not." She asked.

Paige shrugged, finally meeting Emily's gaze, "It's been a long time." She stated simply as if that should explain it all.

Emily smiled sadly at Paige, "Yeah it has."

"I've wanted you to come back for so long." Paige explained, "And now here you are."

"Here I am." Emily said with a reassuring smile, leaning forward to peck Paige's lips, "All yours."

This made Paige smile a little, lifting her hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Emily's ear, "Promise?"

"Always." She swore, kissing Paige as passionately as she could, hoping that she could make Paige feel how sure she was about all this. How sure she was that she was supposed to be here with Paige. That she was the one for her.

Emily knew this all was somewhat sudden. A whirlwind of events since she had come back home, but she really wanted Paige to know that this is where she wanted to be. That the brunette was who she wanted to be with.

"What about New York?" Paige asked hesitantly as soon as Emily separated their lips, "I mean you have a job and a life somewhere else." She explained a little breathlessly.

Emily sighed, sitting up and maneuvering herself to the edge of the bed, swinging her feet off the bed and letting them hit the floor, the wood cold against her bare feet. She let her eyes scan the room, quickly finding her shirt on the floor, reaching down to grab it and pull it over her head, suddenly feeling vulnerable having this conversation in their current state.

"Look I know there are still things we have to figure out." Emily said, knowing it was the truth. She stood up from the bed, letting her eyes roam around the room momentarily in search for something to pull over her legs but not finding anything, figuring she must have lost her pants somewhere else in the house.

Feeling comfortable with Paige, she got up and moved to the dresser on the other side of the room, opening a few drawers before finding a pair of sweats that she slipped on, feeling Paige's eyes on her the entire time.

"We'll figure it out as we go." Emily offered with a shrug of her shoulders, turning to find Paige sitting up in bed now, sheet tucked up under her arms doing the best to cover her body.

Paige shook her head, "That's not going to work." She said matter-of-factly.

The short firmly spoken statement aggravating Emily slightly. The woman taking a deep breath to try to keep herself composed, "Why are we having this conversation right now?" Emily groaned, her frustration rising when Paige's face contorted into a look as if Emily's question was stupid.

"When do you think we should have it?" Paige countered.

"Well now I'm starting to think we might have wanted to have it before we jumped into bed together." Emily stated, the tone of her annoyance coming through clearly to Paige, "I got to go." She said shortly, not bothering to wait for Paige to respond, knowing that she was going to stop her.

Emily quickly made her way through the house, grabbing her things on the way out of the door, making it all the way to her car before Paige caught up to her, "Emily."

Emily turned around to find Paige jogging across the front of the house to catch up to her in a t-shirt and shorts, "What?" She sighed, leaning back against her car as she waited for Paige to reach her.

"I'm sorry." Paige offered, standing directly in front of Emily, "I didn't mean to ruin the night."

Emily turned her gaze away from Paige for a moment, looking down towards the lake, the moon light shining off the water the only thing making it visible in the dark night. She turned back to the brunette, "You didn't ruin anything." She said genuinely.

Paige stopped her immediately with a shake of her head, "Yes I did." She insisted, "I should've just brought it up another time. I just...I don't know, you know how I get." She said, this time being the one to break their eye contact as she looked down at her feet and scratched absentmindedly at the back of her neck.

Emily did know how Paige got. She always over thought things. Always let her worrying over small things get in her head. It's just how her mind worked. She needed to know how things were going to be. What things meant. Emily knew that Paige wasn't always confident in herself and sometimes needed a little extra reassurance when in situations like this.

And although Paige always assumed her uncertainty was an inconvenience and a nuisance, Emily didn't mind it at all. In fact she found it somewhat endearing and always tried her best to reassure the woman.

Emily grabbed at the loose fabric of Paige's t-shirt that was moving slightly in the blowing wind, pulling the woman into her, causing Paige to look up at her, "Tonight was…" Emily paused for a moment, a bashful smile appearing on her face, "it was great."

"Earth shattering?" Paige asked, the teasing raised eyebrow pleasantly surprising Emily.

"Alright slow down on the self-praise there hot shot." Emily said through a soft giggle, "Seriously though," She said earnestly, "it was perfect."

"Until I opened my mouth and ruined it." Paige continued.

"No." Emily said shaking her head, "Stop doing that all the time." Emily reprimanded gently, "I understand that this is hard for you considering everything in our past. You don't have be so hard on yourself though Paige."

Paige nodded a little but Emily noticed the tightness of her jaw and the harsh swallow that moved in her throat before the brunette shrugged, "I'm just scared." She admitted honestly, not looking at Emily as she did so.

"I know." Emily said softly, bringing her hand up to graze Paige's face and turn it toward her, "Me too."

"You have to go back soon." Paige said reluctantly, "To New York." She clarified although they both knew exactly what she was talking about.

Emily's fingers fumbled with the hem of Paige' t-shirt, while her other hand rested comfortably on her shoulder, thumb grazing the base of Paige's neck softly. The two of them stood there in the driveway for a little while, neither saying anything. Letting the silence of the night take over them as they both thought over the statement hanging in the air.

They stood in silence for so long that when Emily took in a sharp breath, it slightly startled Paige, "I don't want to." Emily confessed, voice a little shaky.

Paige chuckled softly, leaning forward to let her forehead rest against Emily's, "You have to Em." She whispered.

Emily let her eyes drift closed, the newly rediscovered closeness of her first love still managing to have a substantial effect on her, "What if I didn't." Emily whispered back.

Paige pulled away a little so she could look at Emily, "Emily come on, what are you going to do? Quit your job and move back here?" She proposed sarcastically.

Emily stared at Paige, not responding at all causing Paige's smile to drop slowly and look at Emily seriously, "Emily you can't quit your job and move back here."

"Why not?" Emily asked, as if it was the most obvious solution to all of their problems.

Paige let out a humorous laugh, "Because that's crazy Em."

"So what are we going to do then?" Emily asked, feeling frustration start to build up in her again, "Are you going to move to New York? You hate the city Paige." Emily reminded the brunette.

Paige's shoulders dropped not knowing what to say. She hadn't thought this far. Maybe she should've but she hadn't. Having Emily back was so momentarily blinding that she hadn't taken the time to think if them getting back together was even plausible in reality. Sure things were great, fine, and easy while Emily was here on vacation but they didn't even live in the same state.

"Long distance?" Paige threw out as an idea.

Emily scoffed, "That would never work."

"Why not?" Paige asked, thinking it was an option, "I mean sure it'd suck but it's something we could do."

Emily shook her head, "It wouldn't work and you know it." She stated, earning a shrug from Paige who clearly didn't agree, "So you're telling me that my ex working in my office building isn't going to bother you?" Emily asked, the simple mention of Katie making Paige frown, "Because I sure as hell am not going to leave you here with Sam a couple of blocks away to cheer you up when you get down."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Paige asked, a little offended at the notion, "I thought you and Sam were getting along now."

"Please, I know she's your friend and everything but I don't trust her." Emily said, "Did you not see her earlier today? Roaming around your house in practically nothing like she was some sexy housewife?"

Paige couldn't help the small laugh that slipped past her lips, "Sexy housewife? Really Emily?"

"You know what I mean." Emily sighed, "You know that I trust you Paige, it's just other people I don't trust."

"Sam, you mean?" Paige asked, Emily rolling her eyes at the teasing shine in Paige's eyes, "You do realize that she's just trying to get under your skin to push us together right?" Paige offered, "Sam is harmless. I don't want her, I want you."

Emily sighed again, rubbing her face harshly, "It's late, okay. Can we just talk about this another time? You know not the middle of the night when I can't even think straight."

Paige nodded, reaching behind Emily and pulling the car door open for her silently. Emily climbed in and started the car, rolling down the window when Paige closed the door.

"I'm sorry." Emily said, gripping the steering wheel a little tightly, feeling a little bad about the turn the night took.

"Yeah?" Paige asked, leaning her arms down on the frame of the window and crouching down so she was face to face with Emily, "For what?"

"For arguing with you? For getting mad about Sam?" Emily suggested with a shrug, "Really take your pick at this point. I feel like just when things start to get better between us we bring up something that ruins everything."

"Nothing's ruined." Paige said with a smile, "You know how I feel about you Em. I don't care how we do it. I just want to be with you again." Paige said, "I really missed you and I don't know how we're going to do it but I'm sure about one thing. I'm not letting you go again."

This made Emily smile, "You don't have to. I'm not going anywhere."

Paige leaned into the car, connecting their lips. Emily grabbed the collar of Paige's t-shirt, pulling her as close as she could with the door in between them. They stayed tied up in each other like that for as long as Paige could take the car door awkwardly digging into her elbow and hip pushing up hard against it, pulling away finally when she couldn't take the irritation anymore.

"I better let you go." Paige said non-convincingly through her hasty breathing.

"Remember our first year of college when we came home for Christmas break?" Emily asked, the question coming out of nowhere.

"Umm, yeah I guess." Paige said with a small chuckle, a little confused at where this was going, "What about it?"

Emily turned the car engine off, leaving the keys in the ignition though to let the radio play before opening the door causing Paige to step back and look at her curiously, still trying to figure out what was going on. Paige raised a curious eyebrow when Emily moved to open the back door and climb in, it finally clicking in her head.

Paige let out a hardy laugh, "Emily?"

"What?" Emily said with a chuckle, "I was just reminiscing about the good ole days." She said jokingly.

Paige shook her head looking around before looking back down at Emily who was daring her to get in the back seat with her, Paige sighed before shaking her head and moving towards the open door, "You're going to kill me, you know that?"

"Oh come on, when's the last time you've done something dirty in the backseat of a car?" Emily asked, scooting over in the back seat, urging Paige in.

Paige laughed again, finally giving in and climbing into the car, "Well considering I'm not a kid anymore, it's been a while."

"I don't know, maybe I should refresh your memory on how fun it can be." Emily said as Paige closed the door, causing the car light to go off and giving Emily the courage to climb on Paige's lap, straddling her hips, "If I remember correctly we spent most of that Christmas break doing dirty things in the back of your truck." Emily whispered into Paige's ear, biting her earlobe and pulling on it gently before letting it go.

"You're absolutely insufferable." Paige said as Emily pulled back to look down at her, pleased by the dazed look and hooded eyes she found looking up at her.

"I have a lot of lost time to make up for." Emily responded without missing a beat, leaning in to connect their lips briefly.

"I'm not going to be able to look your dad in the eye anymore after what I do to you in the back seat of this car, you do know that right?" Paige said, fingers already trailing up under Emily's shirt, "Are you sure you don't want to take this back inside the perfectly good house that's ten yards away from us?"

"No." Emily said, wrapping her arms around Paige's neck, "There's no fun in that." Leaning in, she connected her lips to Paige's jaw, trailing down her neck when Paige leaned her head back giving her the access she wanted.

"God," Paige breathed out at the sensation, amazed by how easily her body reacted to Emily, "I'm so sorry Wayne."

Emily's lips immediately disconnected from Paige's neck, pulling back to look down at Paige, "Could you please stop talking about my dad." She chastised, "It's weird."

Paige chuckled, "Sorry." She said, taking the opportunity to lift Emily's shirt over her head, "Won't happen again." She promised, letting her hands snake under Emily's thighs, doing her best to maneuver them around so Emily was laying down no her back and Paige was hovering over her, "Last time we did this I believe I said something along the lines of, 'are you ready to get your world rocked Fields?'"

Emily laughed, "How you ever got me to sleep with you then, I have no clue."

"Hey, I'm charming." Paige argued as Emily tugged off the brunette's shirt with little help.

"Mhm, sure." She said absentmindedly, pleased when she noticed that Paige hadn't bothered to put a bra on when she got redressed, letting her hands wander up the woman's body.

"I mean I'll give it to you, you were always a little smoother than me when we were younger but that definitely doesn't mean I didn't rock your world." Paige continued, Emily pulling Paige down and trailing kisses down her neck the best she could at the slightly awkward angle that the car forced them into, "Remember that one time wher-"

Emily pulled away from Paige, reaching up to grip her jaw tightly, "Paige." She said stopping the woman in front of her instantly, "I'm really going to need you to focus." She commanded.

Paige swallowed as her eyes trailed down Emily's body, finally noticing her bare chest and her sweatpants hanging half way down her hips due to them being a size to big and all the maneuvering they had been doing, revealing most of her.

"Paige?" Emily said again, this time a small smile on her face when Paige looked up at her with a blank look on her face, mouth hanging slightly open, "God, I love you." Emily said with a shake of her head.

"What?" Paige asked surprised.

Emily's eyes widened to match Paige's when she realized what she had just said, "What?"

"Y-you…" Paige started but couldn't find the words, "you, you love me?"

Neither knew why the statement had caught them both off guard so much. They both knew they still loved each other. It shouldn't have been such a surprise that one of them had finally let it slip. Really it was just a matter of time. They both knew it was going to happen. But for some reason the words hung heavy in the air. Like the world around them had stopped.

"I…" Emily started, trying to figure out what to say, Paige staring down at her intensely not helping her as she tried to come up with something to say, "I didn't mean to say that." She stupidly offered, "It slipped, I'm so sorry."

Paige studied Emily with interest, noticing the panicked look on her face, "Did you mean it?"

"What?" Emily asked, surprised at the barely audible question.

"Do you love me?" Paige asked.

Emily nodded, not having to think about it, "Of course I do." She said without hesitation, "I already told you, I don't think I ever stopped."

Paige moved off of Emily, sitting in the seat of the car properly. The deep breath she took as she leaned back into the seat worrying Emily as she herself sat up properly in the opposite seat, the gap between them seeming much bigger than it actually was.

"Can you please say something?" Emily said when she couldn't take the silence anymore.

"I love you too." Paige simply stated.

"What?" Emily asked surprised.

Paige laughed, dropping her head lazily to the side to look at Emily, "I love you." She whispered.

"Really?" Emily asked, "Just like that?" She added, "After everything I did to you?"

Paige shook her head, the small smile on her face not going unnoticed by Emily, "Loving you is so easy for me that it's terrifying." Paige admitted, "The day you came back I could already feel it. That's why it was so hard when you left. Because I loved you and I had a hard time accepting you left because I never stopped loving you." She explained, "I've loved you since we were little kids Emily."

"Could you say something a little cheesier?" Emily teased with a large grin, scooting closer to Paige who only laughed.

"I knew you were going to change my world since the first day we met." Paige offered playfully.

"The first day we met, I shoved you down into the dirt and you cried." Emily said.

Paige let out a loud laugh, recalling the day that was so long ago, "Our parents thought we were going to hate each other." Paige reminded Emily who laughed along with her, "They sure were wrong about that one weren't they."

"I love you." Emily said without hesitation this time.

"I love you too." Paige said, smile wide on her face, "So are we going to just sit here half naked orrrr…" Paige said after a few moments of silently staring at each other.

Emily couldn't help but laugh, looking down at herself and then back towards Page's own body, having forgot that they were both sitting in the back seat of her dad's car like this, "Please, rock my world McCullers."

"Ha ha." Paige said, moving back towards Emily, "So funny." She whispered as she maneuvered the two of them back to their previous position where she was hovering over Emily, "I'm so happy you came back."

"Me too." Emily said, pulling Paige down on top of her, not being able to wait to get lost in each other's bodies. Which they did. Tossing and turning throughout the night in the backseat of the crammed space. Exchanging 'I love yous' and throaty moans in the backseat until the first signs of morning begin to come up, the light from the sunrise beginning bringing them both out of their trance.

"I better get going." Emily said, not wanting to leave Paige.

"Do you have too?" Paige asked, running her hand through Emily's hair, lying comfortably on top of her.

Emily nodded, "I don't want everyone on my back for not coming home."

Paige nodded, getting up off of Emily, both of them quickly getting dressed before slipping out of the back of the car.

"God." Paige said as she stood up straight and stretched her hands above her head, "As fun as that was, I'm way too old for that shit." She said, grabbing at her lower back and rubbing it, a grimace on her face.

Emily laughed as she watched although she had to agree, her back hurt and she was pretty sure her shoulder was going to be sore for a few days due to it being twisted awkwardly and pushed back into the car seat for the majority of their time together in the car.

"Come home for breakfast later." Emily suggested, leaning her back against the closed driver door, Paige moving around the car to stand directly in front of her, "Please."

Paige smiled, "Sure." She said, pecking Emily's lips.

"Okay." Emily said, "I'll see you in a few hours then?" She asked, not being able to urge herself to move away from the brunette, who had leaned into her and started rubbing soft circles over her t-shirt on the small of her back.

"Mhm." Paige hummed as she pulled Emily in for a deeper kiss, her free hand digging into the woman's messy hair and the other tightening against her back.

Paige had Emily fully pushed up against the car, her hand starting to slip into the back of Emily's sweatpants before Emily pulled away causing Paige to groan, Emily smiling at the pout on Paige's face.

"If you start again I'll never leave." Emily admitted, taking the opportunity to slip out of Paige's grip and slipping into the car.

"I'll see you soon." Paige said, leaning into the car and pecking Emily's lips one last time before pulling back and shutting the door, "Okay go. I really genuinely don't think I can contain myself." She said, gesturing for Emily to leave.

Emily laughed, "I'm going, I'm going." She said as she started the car, taking one last look at Paige, who was smiling down at her, "I don't know how I ever lived without you." She let slip.

Paige grinned, crossing her arms over her chest, "Well now you don't have too."

Emily nodded, "Bye." She said, forcing herself to back out of the driveway and drive away from the house. It didn't take her long to get home, the sun still creeping up in the morning sky as she parked the car in the driveway and hurried up the front steps of the house. She opened the front door slowly, trying to be quiet, hoping that everyone was still in bed so she could lie and say she had come home late last night.

She closed the front door behind her and let out a relieved sigh when she didn't see anyone in the living room and the kitchen light was still off. She dropped the keys to her dad's car on the table by the front door and hurriedly made her way towards the stairs as quietly as she could, stopping in her tracks when she saw Derek leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs, "Well, well, well." Derek grinned, "Look who finally made it home."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Shouldn't you be asleep?" She asked, making her way up the stairs slowly.

"And miss the opportunity to witness my sister do the walk of shame?" Derek teased, "Absolutely not. I've been waiting all night for you sis."

"Well you waited for no reason." Emily stated, passing Derek and moving towards her bedroom door, "I just fell asleep at Paige's. Nothing happened." She lied, not wanting to open herself up to any kind of teasing from her brother.

"Oh, right. You fell asleep." Derek said nodding along, as he leaned against the frame of Emily's now open door, Emily sitting on the edge of her bed, "That really the best you got Em?" He said with a smirk.

Emily rolled her eyes, "I don't know what you want me to say." She offered with a shrug, "Nothing happened."

Derek smirked at his sister, "Whatever you say." He said, moving into the room to sit down next to Emily, "I know I give both of you a lot of shit but seriously, I'm happy that you guys are trying to work it out." Derek said genuinely with a smile, "I want both of you to be happy."

Emily nodded, "Yeah me too."

"And judging by your current state," Derek said gesturing to Emily's still slightly disheveled hair, sleepy eyes, and Paige's clothing still hanging off her thin frame, "it must be going well."

Emily laughed, standing up and grabbing her brother's arm, pulling him off the bed and dragging him towards the door of her room, "Time for you to leave." She simply said as she pushed him out into the hallway, "Go text Paige and tease her about it or something. Leave me alone." Emily said through a small giggle as she closed her bedroom door, smiling to herself as she thought back to Paige and the night they had together.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Okay I know this chapter is so long overdue and I really am sorry about that. I'm not going to bore you guys with all of my excuses for why it took me so long to write (although they are valid ones, just saying). Anyways to try to make it up to you guys this chapter is twice as long as usual so basically it's like two chapters in one :) hopefully you enjoy it! Also I want to thank the readers who offered up some requests, they were all so good and they all fit into the story well so while they aren't all in this chapter I will get around to fulfilling all the requests I got. Thank you all for being patient, I'm so thankful that you all have been so kind to me so I really hope this chapter is good for you all! As always feel free to let me know what you think of it. Enjoy :)**

Paige made her way up the steps, knocking on the door lightly before turning the knob herself and peeking into the Field's house, "Morning." She offered when she saw Wayne sitting in the recliner in the living room, letting herself in the house.

"Hey what are you doing here this early?" Wayne smiled welcomingly, sitting up a little straighter in his chair.

Paige shrugged, "Couldn't sleep." She offered instead of blurting out that she was here to simply see Emily. She figured not being able to sleep wasn't a complete lie after all, "I figured since I was up I'd come over here and hope Pam was making breakfast."

Wayne let out a small chuckle as he shook his head, "You kids never stop eating."

"Don't try to pretend that your wife isn't the best cook ever and that you don't take full advantage of that." Paige countered with a teasing raised eyebrow.

"Touché." Wayne said, gesturing towards the kitchen with his head, "She's in there making coffee."

"I'll take what I can get." Paige said, turning on her heels and making her way towards the kitchen, stepping into the room with a soft, "Hey," not wanting to startle the older woman who had her back turned towards her.

Pam looked over her shoulder with a soft smile, "Paige, honey, I thought I heard you out there."

Paige nodded as she moved towards Pam, throwing her arm over the woman's shoulder and squeezing her gently out of habit, "Whatcha making?" She asked.

"An omelet." Pam stated, earning a nod from Paige, waiting a few moments before asking knowingly, "Would you like one?"

Paige smiled wide at Pam giving her shoulders another squeeze, "Yes please."

Pam shook her head shrugging Paige's arm off of her shoulders, "Why don't you go wake up Emily and Derek and I'll make all of you kids some, we can all eat together since everyone's here." She suggested hopefully.

"Sure." Paige said, already making her way out of the kitchen, "I'm on it."

Paige hurriedly made her way up the stairs and down the hall to Emily's room, cracking the door open slowly and looking in to find Emily buried in the covers. Paige let herself in and closed the door quietly behind her, smiling at the cute way that Emily's mouth hung open, hair messily hanging over the side of her face.

The brunette kicked off her shoes, leaving them by the door and walked over to the edge of the bed, carefully climbing over Emily and landing softly behind her, smiling softly when Emily instinctively pushed back into her with a small groan. She pushed the other woman's dark hair aside, revealing the back of her neck and leaned in to place a soft kiss to the side of it.

"Em?" Paige whispered trying to ease the woman out of sleep, "You gotta get up." She whispered before dropping a kiss just under Emily's ear.

Emily let out another groan of protest, keeping her eyes closed as she turned and buried her head in Paige's neck, "Morning beautiful." Paige said softly, wrapping one of her arms around Emily over all of the sheets.

Emily let out a more pleasant groan this time and Paige could feel the girl's smile against her neck, "Morning." Emily mumbled, placing a brief kiss to Paige's neck before nuzzling deeper into her, the gravely tone of her voice doing something to Paige.

"Your mom's making breakfast, she sent me to come get you." Paige said quickly before her mind went somewhere else, allowing herself to sink further into the bed herself though she knew it would make it harder for her to leave, Emily's soft breathing against her neck soothing her.

"Tired." Emily whined wiggling around until she managed to get a grip of the sheet covering her, lifting it up in an attempt to urge Paige to get underneath it with her, "Sleep with me for a little longer." She said, tugging on Paige's arm weakly.

Paige shook her head but obliged, slipping under the covers and properly wrapping her arms around Emily's waist, "Seriously Em?" Paige groaned when she felt Emily's bare legs stretching out against her own, "Are you even wearing pants?" Paige asked, trying to lift the sheet back up to peak underneath it for an answer.

Emily let out a sleepy giggle that made Paige's heart melt, smiling as she watched Emily shake her head weakly, "It was too hot in here last night." She offered up as an explanation.

"Maybe you should consider removing one of the hundred blankets on your bed." Paige teased, lifting them slightly in emphasis before letting them fall back over the two of them.

Emily chuckled, "But it makes it so cozy." She whined, "Plus, since when have you been so against no pants?" Emily asked playfully, peaking an eye open to look at Paige.

"Never." Paige swore seriously with a single shake of her head, "Nor will I ever be." She added with a smirk.

Emily smiled up at her, tilting her head up to kiss Paige's lips properly, "Mmm," she hummed pleasantly, "Morning." She mumbled against Paige's lips causing the other woman to smile.

"Hey." Paige said in return, smiling down at Emily when she pulled away, the dark haired woman's eyes drooped half shut, fighting to adjust to the light seeping into the room Paige taking the opportunity to run her hand through Emily's hair. Emily's eyes closed at the touch, head dropping back a little and Paige couldn't help herself as she leaned in to kiss her lips softly, pleased when Emily didn't protest.

Paige pulled away with a smile and a tingling feeling in her chest that she could only guess was a sensation of real happiness, "You do know that if I don't get you downstairs soon then your mom is going to come looking for me, right?"

Emily frowned, having expected something different from that to come from Paige's lips. Instead she dropped her head back onto the bed dramatically and turned away from Paige, pulling the covers with her, "You go." She stated, "I'll be down in a little."

Paige chuckled, gripping Emily's waist one more time as she dropped a kiss to her cheek before popping up out of the bed, "If you aren't down stairs within 15 minutes, I'm coming back for you Fields." Paige threatened as she made her way to the door.

"Promise?" Emily teased, sending a wink towards Paige when the brunette turned around to glare at her, "Okay, okay." Emily said through a laugh, "I'll be down in fifteen. Swear." She said, "Leave me alone now. Go bug Derek."

Paige couldn't help but smile as she shook her head and left the room, walking further down the hallway to Derek's room. The brunette opened the door a little less carefully than she had Emily's but found a similar sight. Derek was sleeping, mouth hung open just like Emily's had been, one arm hanging over the edge of the bed nearly touching the floor. Paige glanced around, spotting a pair of shoes lined up neatly against the wall by the door. Paige reached down and picked one up, tossing it carelessly towards Derek, hitting him square in the shoulder, causing the boy to startle awake with a jolt.

"Morning." Paige said with a wide grin as she leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest, "Time to get up, breakfast is almost ready."

"What the hell?" He said as his wide eyes landed on the shoe that had bounced off him and landed back down onto the floor.

"What?" Paige asked innocently, "Your mom asked me to wake you up." She said with a shrug.

Derek glared at Paige, "I bet Emily didn't get woken up like that." He grumbled as he turned over in bed and pulled the sheets over his head dramatically.

"Her wake up was much more pleasurable." Paige said suggestively knowing that it would gross out Derek despite it not being true.

"Eww, could you not." Derek protested loudly.

"Well you're the one who seemed so interested in teasing us about it earlier." Paige said, "If you can't take it, don't dish it." She offered with a shrug, "Just like Em, you have 15 minutes to get your ass downstairs. If you don't I'm eating your plate."

"God, leave me alone." Derek groaned again in annoyance causing Paige to laugh as she shut the door.

Paige took her time getting back downstairs, strolling into the kitchen with a huff, "Both of your children are difficult." She said, dropping herself down into one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

Pam chuckled, "Now you know what I had to deal with when they were both in high school. They're impossible to get out of bed. That's why you were always my favorite."

Paige smiled at that, remembering how she had always been an early riser, ultimately finding a certain comfort in Pam's comment and the way the Field's talked about her. Her and Pam sat in the kitchen in light conversation as Pam cooked and Paige waited. Pam had already dropped a plate in front of Paige and had sat down at the table herself by the time Emily finally made her way into the kitchen.

"Well look who decided to join us." Pam greeted as she pushed herself up out of her seat at the table.

"She gave me fifteen minutes," Emily said gesturing towards Paige, "and I made it in…fourteen." Emily said as she looked over at the clock, "So really I'm early." She concluded as she poured herself a cup of coffee, smiling proudly at her mother as she passed her.

Paige rolled her eyes, "Whatever you need to tell yourself."

Emily stuck her tongue out at Paige as she walked to the table with her hands wrapped around her mug and sat down next to her, immediately reaching over to grab a piece of toast off of Paige's plate.

"Nuh uh." Paige swatted Emily's hand away without hesitation, "Wait for your own." She scolded as if she was offended.

Emily giggled, "But it always taste better off of your plate." She pouted.

Paige rolled her eyes again but couldn't help the slight lift of the corner of her lips as she looked away, pushing her plate slightly towards Emily letting the other woman take what she wanted.

"Thank you." Emily said gleefully as she grabbed the piece of toast and took a big bite out of it, smiling when she felt Paige's foot bump lightly against her own under the table.

Pam eyed them curiously from the other side of the kitchen as she finished up Emily's plate of food, going ignored by the two girls who were too busy with each other to notice her staring at them questioningly, only being torn out of her suspicions when Derek shuffled into the kitchen.

"Morning honey." Pam said, smiling at the sleepy expression on her boy's face.

"Mornin Ma." He offered groggily, walking over towards his mom while he ran his hand through his shaggy hair in an attempt to tame it, immediately reaching for the plate Pam was dishing when he reached her.

"That's your sisters." Pam moved the plate away from her son, much to Derek's disappointment.

Derek looked over his shoulder to find Emily not even paying attention to them, instead talking in hushed tones with Paige as she slowly nibbled on the piece of toast that Paige gave her, "She looks just fine to me." Derek mumbled, "Can't she wait?"

Pam eyed Paige and Emily again, "What's going on there?" She asked quietly, knowing that if anyone knew anything it was Derek.

"Oh you didn't hear?" Derek asked with a raised eyebrow before announcing much more loudly, "They're sleeping together again." He exclaimed with a large satisfied smirk.

That immediately got Paige and Emily's attention. Both woman's heads snapping up instantly to look at Pam and Derek with wide eyes, "What's wrong with you?" Emily asked a little loudly, annoyed with her brother.

"What?" Derek exasperated, "It's true." He said in his defense, "And she asked."

….

 _Paige's eyes slowly fluttered open, blinking repeatedly as she tried to get them to focus. She let her eyes move around, the white walls and chill to the air unfamiliar, continuing to glance around the room as she slipped back into consciousness. She immediately groaned when she tried to sit up, dropping back down onto the bed and attempting to grab at her side and make sense of things. She grimaced, her body feeling heavy and throbbing from head to toe._

 _"Hey, easy there kid." Wayne said as he opened the door and saw that Paige was finally awake, peaking back out into the hallway and asking one of the nurses who passed by if she could get the doctor to come in._

 _"W-what's going on?" Paige asked, Wayne giving her a sympathetic look as he saw the panic and confusion in her eyes._

 _"Relax Paige, you're okay." He tried his best to reassure her, sitting down in the chair next to the bed and grabbing her hand, "You were in an accident, but you're okay."_

 _Paige's eyes widened at the new information her glance moving around frantically, not having remembered getting in an accident at all, "W-what?" She stuttered, her mind still a little foggy, cringing again when a sharp pain shot through her side unexpectedly._

 _Wayne reached out and stopped Paige from grabbing at it, "Try not to move around so much." He suggested calmly, "You broke a couple ribs." He said causing Paige's eyes to widen further as she looked at him but before he could continue the doctor walked in._

 _"Ms. McCullers, how're we feeling?" He asked a little too cheery for the moment._

 _Paige's mouth opened to respond but nothing came out, instead only being able to stare up at the dark haired doctor in his crisp white coat._

 _Wayne quickly stood up from his chair to step in for her, keeping his hand tightly wrapped around Paige's protectively, "She's a little overwhelmed by everything." He let the doctor know._

 _The doctor nodded in understanding, "Well I'll briefly let you know what's going on and then I'll let you get some rest, how does that sound?" He asked with a smile, continuing when Paige nodded weakly, "So we did some x-rays and you broke a rib, fractured a couple other ones." He mentioned casually, "Good news with that is that the broken one didn't have any jagged edges so there's no actual damage to your lungs." He explained, "Your left side will be very sore for a while but they should all heal up fine in a couple months and we'll give you some pain medication to control the pain."_

 _"You also broke your leg." The doctor informed her, gesturing down to the girl's leg, Paige finally noticing the large cast that trailed up her leg, "It was a pretty severe break so we had to do surgery on it and insert a few pins and screws. You'll have to stay off of it for about 6 to 8 weeks at least but overall you should make a full recovery." He said with a smile as he looked up from his chart at her._

 _"Other than that, you had a few bumps and bruises." He said, gesturing to the obvious marks littering her pale skill, "We had to put a couple stitches in the cut above your eye and you had a pretty deep cut on your upper abdomen just under your rib cage that we had to glue shut but the rest were fairly minor." He said._

 _"You're very lucky Ms. McCullers." The doctor offered with another smile, Paige immediately feeling Wayne squeeze her hand again, all the information overwhelming her further as she looked up at him blankly, "If you have any questions for me or need anything feel free to call for me. Until then it's best if you get some rest. You'll be needing a lot of it."_

 _The doctor shook Wayne's hand, Mr. Field's offering him a quiet 'thank you' before watching the doctor leave the room and turning his attention back to Paige._

 _"What happened?" She asked as their eyes met, hesitating a little before finally adding, "Did anyone else get hurt?"_

 _"No. No one else was hurt." Wayne answered quickly, physically seeing the relief wash over Paige's face as she looked at him. He took a deep breath as he sat down in the chair next to the bed again and looked down in his lap, "You lost control of the car." He informed her, "You hit a guard rail on the highway and flipped the car."_

 _Paige swallowed harshly, she didn't remember any of that. Nothing._

 _She closed her eyes, trying to remember it. Remember even getting in the car at all. Her mind was blank and she didn't know how that was possible. She opened her eyes back up when nothing came and dared to look at Wayne, regretting it when she saw the man's watering eyes and the slight wobble the edge of his lip did as their eyes met._

 _Heavy bags rested under his eyes and she wondered how long she had been here. How long he had been up waiting for her to wake. How worried and relieved he managed to look all at the same time._

 _She felt tears start to fill her eyes, "I'm sorry." She barely managed to choke out, a sob escaping her eyes in the process._

 _The last thing she could remember was being at the bar and despite not remembering even leaving she wasn't dumb. She easily put the pieces together in her head and figured she knew exactly what happened, a sense of shame overcoming her instantaneously._

 _The pain from her lungs that came with her harsh breathing seeming to just make her cry harder. Wayne leaned into the young girl, doing his best not to hurt her but still provide her with some kind of comfort as he hushed her, "You don't have to be sorry. We're just glad you're okay." He said quietly, kissing the side of her head gently._

 _Eventually Paige's crying slowed, turning into soft whimpers as she leaned into Wayne, "You okay?" Wayne asked, not really knowing what else to say._

 _Paige nodded weakly, letting Wayne wipe gently at her eyes. She was about to voice her thanks when the door to the room opened and Derek let himself in, rushing over to the opposite side of the bed that Wayne was on, "Hey." He said softly, smiling down at her, "How you feeling?"_

 _"I've been better." She said humorlessly, "Doctor says I'll be okay though." She said giving Derek a reassuring smile._

 _Derek shook his head, lightly resting his hand on her head and ruffling her hair gently, "Good. You really scared us." He said._

 _Paige frowned, guilt rushing through her at the sincerity in his voice despite trying to mask it with a forced joking smile. She could see the water building up in his eyes and even though it hurt like hell she reached up and put her arm over his shoulder, pulling him down into a hug, "I'm sorry." She whispered into the side of his head, trying to fight tears from falling from her own eyes again as she felt him carefully hug her back._

 _Once she pulled away her eyes went over to Pam who was leaning against the frame of the door watching the scene, still having not stepped into the room. Paige didn't know what to say to her. The woman's eyes looked tired like Wayne's and her jaw was tight._

 _Paige knew Pam. No one had to say it, she could see it. She knew Pam was upset the moment she laid eyes on her._

 _"I'm sorry." Paige tried, knowing it wouldn't be enough but still looking Pam directly in the eye as she let it leave her lips. She didn't know what else to say. It wasn't exactly like anyone taught people what to do if they found themselves in this situation. She didn't know how to deal with it. How to make it right._

 _Pam barely acknowledged the apology, simply giving Paige a single nod of her head as she pursed her lips, feet staying planted in their spot._

 _"Pam?" Wayne strained, urging the woman to come into the room._

 _Pam shook her head, "I have to go to work." She said weakly, looking down at her feet as she cleared her throat, "I just came to drop Derek off. He wanted to see her." She explained, giving one last look to Paige before turning and rushing out of the room._

 _Paige sighed, her eyes never leaving the door, "She'll come around." Wayne promised, drawing Paige's eyes back to his own, "It's been a long couple of days." He tried to explain, "She was just really worried, that's all."_

 _Paige nodded her head, forcing a weak smile onto her face as if she believed him, dropping her head back down onto the overstuffed pillow behind her, trying her best to relax her body in a pitiful attempt to ease the sharp pains shooting through her body._

….

"Well that was weird." Paige stated bluntly as she stared up at the ceiling.

Emily rolled her eyes from the other side of the room, "She already knew we were trying to work things out." Emily reminded Paige, "I'm sure she guessed we were going to sleep together eventually so really it's not that weird. Plus it's not like it was the first time we had sex either so."

Paige who had her fingers linked, resting behind her head as she laid on Emily's bed, dropped her head to the side to look over at the woman who was slipping on a pair of jeans, "Nope. Still weird." She stated blatantly.

Emily buttoned her jeans and put her hands on her hips, letting out a breath as she faced Paige, "Not as weird as the time your mom walked into your bedroom to find your hand down my pants."

Paige groaned as her eyes closed tightly causing Emily to laugh lightly as she pulled an old shirt on, "We agreed to never talk about that again." The brunette complained.

Emily moved towards the bed, pulling Paige's arm that was now thrown dramatically over her eyes away from her face, "You're the one who wanted to talk about weird things our mothers knew about us."

Paige peaked an eye open, "That's not what I wanted." She said, causing Emily to laugh again, the way her head tilted slightly back as her eyes closed and the soft sound filled the small room making Paige's mouth turn up into a smile automatically.

Paige sat up, conversation forgotten just like that. Moving to the edge of the bed she swung her legs down to rest against the floor, Emily naturally maneuvering herself to stand between Paige's legs, "Sorry, I promise to never bring it up again if you're really that traumatized." Paige just smiled up at her causing Emily to look down at her curiously, "Are you okay?" She chuckled.

Paige nodded, "Yeah. Sorry." She said shaking her head as she looked down into her lap, "You're just really pretty that's all."

Emily's smile widened, "Oh yeah?" She asked, resting one of her knees up on the bed, dropping her hands onto Paige's shoulders to steady herself before straddling the brunette, whose hands were already on Emily's hips, inching their way up under her shirt without a thought.

"Mhm." Paige hummed, already distracted by the woman on top of her.

Paige pulled Emily's shirt off in one swift motion, admiring the way Emily's long hair fell back down messily around her shoulders, taking a moment to admire the naturally tanned skin that surrounded the black bra that Emily had on. Her fingers with a mind of their own sliding up to graze the smooth skin.

"I just put that on you know?" Emily teased with narrowed eyes.

Paige peaking up at Emily with hooded eyes when she was met with Emily staring down at her, bottom lip caught between her teeth, chest already heaving up and down a little faster than normal causing her own heart to beat faster than normal.

Paige let her eyes trail down from Emily's lip to her long neck, landing on her defined collar bone, "You look better without it." She mumbled against Emily's collar bone, lips now sucking lightly at the skin there, letting her hands roam the bare skin of the woman's back.

Emily had a smart ass comment to say back but it quickly got swallowed down when Paige's teeth lightly bit down on her skin, the sensation making Emily bite down on her lip harder to keep a satisfied moan from coming out, hips grinding into Paige's body on their own accord.

When Emily felt Paige's lips trailing up her skin, eventually landing on her jaw in a slow ascent she tilted her head down to capture Paige's lips with her own, not being patient enough to wait any longer. As soon as Paige started kissing her back Emily pushed on the brunette's shoulders who immediately got the message and eased herself backwards until she was laying down on the bed, feet still hanging over the edge carelessly.

They kissed steadily. Emily's tongue running across the top of Paige's mouth, causing a shiver to run through the brunette's body grateful for Emily's mouth being there to quiet the loud moan that would have escaped her mouth otherwise. The reaction seemed to fuel Emily further, her hands gripping the brunette's neck as she deepened the kiss despite the burn in her lungs.

Emily's hand slowly trailing down from Paige's neck, to her shoulders, down her chest, then her stomach, the slow barely there touch over Paige's thin cotton shirt driving another noise from the brunette whose body arched involuntarily. The pressure of Emily's body on top of her forcing a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach only causing her to squirm more.

Emily's hand paused to play with the hem of Paige's shirt before sliding under to explore the bare skin of her stomach, a small hiss coming from Paige's lips at the coolness of Emily's palm against the warmth of her own skin. Emily's lips took the opportunity of separation to move to Paige's jaw, letting her hand run from the base of Paige's bra down to the waistband of her shorts, allowing her index finger to slip under the band and mess with it as her lips danced along Paige's neck slowly, her mouth sucking and nipping at warm skin. At this point her lips moving on their own accord before being forced to stop at the base of the brunette's neck when she reached the collar of her crewneck t-shirt.

"Y-you're killing me Em." Paige groaned breathily.

Emily pulled her lips away from Paige's skin to look up at her, smirking proudly when she found Paige's eyes squeezed tightly shut, head thrown back against the bed, "Relax." Emily whispered seductively near Paige's ear, letting her hand fully slip past the waistband of the brunette's shorts, simultaneously letting her tongue run up the outer curve of Paige's ear, which only caused the woman's hand still gripping Emily's hip to tighten, the other squeezed into a fist around the sheets below them.

Emily felt a wet warmth hit her fingers as they reached their destination, Paige's body grinding up again when they got there only urging Emil on further as she went back to planting light seductive kisses under Paige's jaw, humming against the skin as her fingers moved slickly through Paige.

Paige let out a moan, Emily shushing her lightly without stopping.

Paige bit her lip, the pleasurable sensation hitting her instantaneously doing her best to focus on letting it last as long as possible. Despite her best efforts with one skillful movement from Emily her body was grinding shamelessly into the naturally tanned hand seeking more pressure that Emily was purposefully withholding.

"Em." Paige said, the name coming out of her mouth like a plea.

"Hmm?" Emily answered with a smirk, letting her fingers continue their slow movement, her mouth moving to bite Paige's ear lightly, liking the unsteady breath that it drew from Paige.

She loved the effect she had on the woman. She loved the way her lover's body reacted to the smallest touches. To the slightest flick of her tongue or kiss of her lips.

"I…" Paige paused, a literal whine escaping her lips without permission, "P-please."

"Fine." Emily agreed, finally letting her fingers slip into Paige slowly, "Better?" Emily asked, tone far too proud but at this point Paige couldn't care less. Let Emily's ego be as big as she wanted it to be. It was well earned.

Paige let out a moan, Emily quieting her this time with a deep kiss. Swallowing the moans that fell from the brunette easily as her fingers continued their actions, sliding rhythmically in and out of her lover, thumb skillfully rubbing circles over the most sensitive part of the brunette, knowing she was getting close by the way Paige's body tensed beneath her.

Paige finally let the sensations running through her body consume her fully, it hitting her hard and all at once, thankful for Emily's lips on her own to save her the embarrassment of letting out the loud moan she would have at climax.

Emily's fingers slowed before coming to a complete stop, slipping out of her slowly, sending an aftershock of tingles through Paige's limp body, the only part of her still moving being her lips that were still lazily kissing Emily. Paige finally separated their lips, her lungs burning from the lack of air. Emily sitting up, resting her weight on Paige's thighs, her hands resting on the brunette's rising and falling torso as she smiled down at Paige as she caught her breath.

"Wow." Paige let out in a huff.

Emily giggled, tucking her hair behind her own ear as she took a deep breath of her own, "Nice to know I still have that effect on you."

Paige sat up slightly, resting her weight on her elbows that were now supporting her, "I can't believe you deprived me of that for so long."

Emily smiled sadly down at Paige for a second before it turned into a genuine one, "Well now you never have to go without these again." Emily said, wiggling her fingers towards Paige before slipping the couple of still wet fingers into her mouth as she stared down at Paige, slowly licking them clean.

Paige swallowed hard, her eyes not leaving Emily's mouth as she did it, unaware of her own mouth falling slightly open as she watched Emily pull them back out with a soft pop, "Good lord." Paige let out, barely above a whisper.

That proud smirk returned to Emily's lips after she licked them, noticing how Paige's eyes followed her tongue before it slipped back into her mouth.

"Yep." Paige stated seriously with a sure nod, "You're going to kill me."

Emily found it charming the way that Paige always acted as if Emily was so far above her. Like she couldn't believe that Emily would enjoy doing these things to her. There was something about how Paige saw her that made Emily feel worth something more than she actually felt herself to be from her own perspective.

Emily couldn't help but hope in that moment that she made Paige feel like that too.

"I love you." Emily said sincerely, leaning down to kiss Paige's lips gently, putting all of her newly happy emotions into it, hoping that Paige felt the rejuvenation that she herself did since they had reconnected.

"I love you too." Paige returned, feeling genuine and pure happiness for the first time in a long time, "Now let me show you." The brunette said, surprising Emily when she sat up only to grip Emily's thighs and lift her turning smoothly and managing to get them both fully on the bed, cutting off both Emily and her own giggles with a searing kiss.

….

 _Wayne opened the passenger door and leaned down to help Paige ease her way out of the car doing his best not to hurt her. With a grimace and Wayne's help Paige managed to get out, leaning against the older man for support while Derek pushed a wheelchair up behind Paige so Wayne could help her into it._

 _"Okay, don't we think the wheelchair is a little much?" Paige asked, hating this entire situation. She was happy to be out of the hospital and back at her own home but, while she appreciated it, she was starting to get tired of both Wayne and Derek constantly fumbling over her when it wasn't necessary._

 _"What do you suppose we do with you?" Derek asked as he started pushing her towards the porch, "Your leg is in a cast and with your broken ribs you can't use crutches."_

 _Paige rolled her eyes, she didn't need a recap, she knew what was wrong with her, "Whatever." She sighed out._

 _Derek chuckled at the brunette's irritation, mostly ignoring her as him and Wayne got her into the house and after a little trial and error got her up to her bedroom without any major mishaps._

 _"Thank you." Paige said sincerely to both men as she settled into her own bed._

 _Derek nodded in acknowledgement before leaving the room, Wayne staying behind for a second, "If you need anything at all don't hesitate to call for one of us, okay?" He said, pulling the covers over Paige's body._

 _Paige smiled sweetly at the man who was doing a terrible job at hiding his worry, "I'm fine. I promise." She reassured, "It's been a week. The doctor said I just needed some rest to let everything heal and I'll be back to normal before you know it."_

 _Wayne nodded his head slowly, "Alright, I'll let you rest then." He said, leaning down to drop a kiss on her forehead, "Love you kid."_

 _"Love you too." Paige said, giving her best smile to the man as he left the room, closing the door behind him._

 _As soon as the door closed the smile dropped and the brunette cringed as she brought her hand up to rest over her rib cage, all the moving from the last hour or so causing the pain to flare up again. The doctor said the soreness would slowly ease away but it hadn't felt like it had gotten any better._

 _She had been given pain medication but she had been trying not to take it. It made her tired and her mind a little fuzzy when she took too much and she didn't like it. Of course she hadn't let anyone else in on that information knowing that they'd force her to take it for her own good but part of her felt like she deserved the pain this had brought on her. Like after everything she did the least she could do was bare a little pain. She figured that kind of thought process couldn't be healthy but she couldn't help it._

 _She felt bad. She felt ashamed. And no matter what she told herself she couldn't shake it._

 _She pushed those thoughts aside for a second, trying to get comfortable before closing her eyes and trying to fall asleep, it being the only time she hadn't been in pain since she woke up in the hospital._

 _She managed to fall asleep, getting more sleep than she had gotten in the hospital but a few hours later the brunette eased into consciousness, immediately feeling the ache in her side before even opening her eyes. She groaned, trying to take a small breath and ignore the consistent throb, sighing in relief when it slowly faded until it was a weak sting that she had gotten used to._

 _She noticed that the sun had gone down, glancing over at her clock she was surprised to see that it was the middle of the night. Her eyes caught the glass of water and her pill bottle on her nightstand, slowly pulling herself up into a sitting position and reaching out for the water, taking a couple large gulps before setting it down, glancing back to the pill bottle momentarily before deciding to pass on taking them._

 _Stubbornly she threw the covers off of her and turned her body to let the cast hang heavily over the edge of the bed and hit the floor with a thud before letting her good leg drop beside it._

 _She pushed herself up off the bed, a quiet sound of pain slipping from her lips but she quickly swallowed it down not wanting anyone to hear her. The bathroom was literally across the hall, she could get there alone. She maneuvered around the nightstand and used the wall for support as she dragged her bad leg behind her, fighting through the pain as she tensed her body and slowly moved towards the door._

 _She wasn't getting anywhere though and it was frustrating._

 _Tears slipping from her eyes steadily as she bit her lip, sliding down the wall and onto the floor ungracefully. She swallowed harshly, her breathing becoming jagged as her eyes landed on the bare skin of her stomach that her ridden up shirt revealed._

 _Her fingers danced along the skin, pushing her shirt up further to reveal the dark bruises that littered her rib cage, standing out against her pale skin easily. Her fingers ran along the cut that ran down her upper abdomen, Derek being the one to tell her how they had told them a piece of metal from the car had cut into her. Paige stared at it, mistakenly pushing on the corner of it, making her wince in pain, cursing when a small amount of blood begin to trickle out of the cut._

 _Her eyes shot up to her bedroom door when she heard a door open from down the hall, light shortly after from the hallway leaking into her room from under the door letting her know someone had heard her up. In a panic she tried to push herself up off the floor but it was useless, there was no way she was going to be able to get up so she waited for the inevitable._

 _Her bedroom door creaked open, Paige barely having the courage to look up to see who it was, regretting it as soon as she was met with Pam's horrified expression looking down at her._

 _"Paige!" Pam scolded, rushing to her side, "What are you doing?" She hastily asked, grabbing the girl's shirt and pushing it away from the bleeding cut, "Oh god, okay. Let's get you up first." She muttered mostly to herself, slipping her arms under Paige's and doing her best to get Paige to her feet. With the support of the woman and the use of her good leg it wasn't very hard to get Paige up right and sat on the edge of the bed._

 _Once on the bed Pam turned and walked out of the room, returning in record time with a damp cloth in her hand, "What happened?" Pam asked as she moved towards Paige, dropping down to a knee as she wiped carefully at the cut._

 _Paige let out a hiss, the cold water against her skin and the pressure that Pam applied making her jolt back slightly, "I had to pee." The brunette answered truthfully through gritted teeth, "I'm fine." She grumbled._

 _Pam shook her head, "You should've called for Wayne or Derek, they could have helped you."_

 _"I don't need help." Paige spat, fresh tears filling her eyes._

 _Pam sighed ignoring the comment. Pulling the cloth away from the girl's skin she pulled a bandage from somewhere and placed it over the cut before standing up, "Do you still need to go to the bathroom?" She asked sympathetically, noticing the way Paige's shoulders slumped at the question, "Come on then." She urged, reaching down and supporting Paige as she got onto her feet._

 _Pam helped Paige to the bathroom and then back to bed once she was done, "Do you need anything else?" Pam asked as Paige settled in._

 _The brunette shook her head, "No." She mumbled, laying her head down and pulling a blanket over herself._

 _Pam nodded, giving Paige one more once over before turning to leave, Paige's voice stopping her before she managed to reach the door._

 _"You never came and saw me."_

 _"What?" Pam asked, looking over her shoulder at the girl._

 _"At the hospital." Paige elaborated, "I was there for a week. You never came and stayed. You just…" Paige shook her head, having to swallow down her emotion, "You've hardly said a word to me. You weren't there."_

 _Pam stared at Paige for a moment before responding, "I was there." She stated harshly, "You know, I sat in a waiting room for an hour before they would even let me see you. While you were in surgery, I sat there, not knowing what was going on or if you were going to be okay." Pam stated firmly, her voice rising slightly as she went on, "I was there when they moved you back into your room, having to wait for you to wake up. To look at you while you were all torn up like that."_

 _"So you know what, I was there." Pam argued, "Don't you dare say that I wasn't."_

 _"I'm sorry." Paige offered weakly, guilt filling her again as she watched the older woman explain herself, knowing that she shouldn't have to._

 _"You're sorry." Pam mumbled, a small huff leaving her lips, "Good. You should be." She said surprising Paige, "Because what you did was stupid Paige. It was so stupid and irresponsible." She stated seriously as she stared into the girl's eyes._

 _Paige sat up in the bed, so distracted by Pam that she barely felt any pain as she did it, "I know."_

 _Pam shook her head, tears streaming down her face, "How could you do that?" She asked rhetorically, tears finally slipping out of her eyes, "How could you let me get that call. You know what they said to me Paige?" She asked waiting for Paige to shake her head 'no' before continuing, "They told me you flipped the car on the highway. Completely totaled it and that I should get to the hospital as fast as I could because they were rushing you into surgery."_

 _"Do you know what that sounds like to a parent?" Pam took a shaky breath, "And after everything with your parents. Jesus." She recalled aloud in a whisper that Paige barely heard, "Your mind just can't help but go to the worst scenario possible."_

 _Pam didn't have to say it, Paige understood. She thought she was going to die and Paige hates herself for putting someone who had done so much for her when they didn't have to in that position. To make someone that had taken her in and was a mother to her feel that way. It made her sick._

 _Paige moved her gaze away from Pam's face, not being able to look her in the eye at this point as tears of her own filled her eyes, "So no I didn't come see you once I knew you were going to be fine." Pam stated, after she collected herself, "You know why? Because I'm so mad at you. Mad that you would ever do something like that to yourself."_

 _"I watched both of your parents die in that hospital over the same damn thing." Pam said, her voice dropping considerably as it trembled unsteadily, "And seeing you in there. Cut up and broken. Unconscious on a hospital bed, having to have a machine help you breath as they waited for the medication to wear off and you to wake up." Pam shook her head again, the images flooding her head far too easily, "How could I let that happen to you?"_

 _That immediately got Paige's attention, her eyes tearing away from her lap to meet the woman's gaze, the pain obvious on her face, "I know it's not enough," Paige said honestly, "but I'm sorry." The brunette scooted further towards the edge of the bed, reaching out for the woman, "I love you." Paige mumbled into the woman's shoulder as she pulled her in for a hug, "I'm so sorry." She said, sobbing inconsolably into Pam's arms._

 _Pam rubbed the girl's back soothingly, "You have to stop doing this to yourself." She whispered, "I know it's been hard for you but what you're doing to deal with it isn't okay. Things have to change."_

 _Paige nodded in acknowledgement, knowing that every word was true. She had to let it go. She got lucky this time and if things didn't change she might not be so lucky next time. She had to get her life back together. She wasn't sure how to do that but this accident woke her up and made her realize that this wasn't her at all._

 _Who she had become in trying to deal with her problems was someone she didn't want to be anymore. She was going to be better for her family. For herself._

….

"So much for the no sex in this house rule." Paige huffed out as she rolled off of Emily and dropped down onto her back next to the other woman, a thin layer of sweat covering her face.

Emily rolled her eyes, a grin growing on her lips, "Today is the one exception." She said dropping a kiss to Paige's cheek before sitting up, "Don't expect me to break the rules for you again McCullers".

Paige eyed her curiously, "And why was there an exception made today?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at Emily when she crawled over her and out of the bed with nothing but a shrug, "You wouldn't be…I don't know, avoiding talking to me about having to go back to New York in about a week."

Emily slipped one of her legs into her jeans, feeling Paige's eyes on her as she waited for an answer, which Emily never gave.

"Emily!" Paige exclaimed, sitting up. Emily ignored her, buttoning up her jeans once they were on before leaning down to pick up her bra off the floor and slip it on, "Did you seriously just have sex with me to avoid talking about that?!"

"Well last time we tried to talk about it, you freaked out." Emily stated straight forwardly.

"I freaked out?" Paige asked incredulously, jamming her finger into her chest for emphasis, "We're going to have to talk about it eventually you know." She said earning a sigh from Emily, "Em?"

"I know." Emily said a little defeated, "I just…I don't want to go back." She admitted, closing her eyes tightly and pinching the bridge of her nose as she let out a heavy sigh, collecting herself before looking back at Paige, "We have such a good thing going right now and I don't want to go back there without you."

Paige ran her hand through her messy hair, "I don't want you to go either Em but you don't really have a choice." She said, Emily jumping to correct Paige who only threw a stern glare at her, "You're not quitting your job Emily. Are you kidding me?"

"Why does it matter?" Emily asked, putting her arms out to the side in question, letting them fall back down to her sides with a slap, "I work in an office building Paige. It's not like it's that big of a deal. I can work nearly the same job, with the same company here like I was before I left."

"The job you have in New York was a promotion." The brunette corrected, now up from the bed and clumsily putting her clothes on, "If you came back here you would have to go down a level."

"Why do you always have to be so difficult?" Emily walked over to her dresser, grabbing an abandoned hair tie and pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

"It's not being difficult, it's being realistic."

"Well realistically, I don't want to be away from you." Emily turned around to face Paige, putting her hands on her own hips, "I have no reason to be in New York. You're here, my family is here, and I love it here. So why shouldn't I move back?" Emily asked, "Give me one good reason for me not to."

Paige finished pulling her shirt over her head and sat back down on the edge of the bed trying to think of something to say back but nothing came to mind fast enough.

"See." Emily proved happily, "You can't even think of one reason for me to go back." The dark haired woman moved to stand in front of Paige, gripping her face in her hands to direct Paige's eyes to her own, "Let's just make this easy on the both of us. I'll go back to New York to talk to my boss, ask about getting placed in the office building here again. I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem." She pitched confidently, "The lease on my apartment is nearly up. I'll pay off the rest of the rent, pack my stuff and move back here."

Paige looked up into those brown eyes staring at her hopefully, suddenly forgetting why she had been so against Emily moving back here in the first place. Maybe it was because she felt like Emily was just doing it for her. Or maybe it was because that would make all of this real.

Emily would be back. And they would be back together.

Was she ready for that? Why was she so scared by the thought of it all? She didn't know. And she hated that she was. Her heart hadn't been on the line in so long. What she had with Sam was never serious, there was never a real chance at heartbreak. Never a chance at sending herself down the dark path that she had gone down the last time her heart was broken. She made sure of that.

"Paige?"

Paige swallowed hard, hearing her name almost like she was under water. She shook her head slightly, letting her eyes scan Emily's worried face erratically, "What?"

"Are you okay?" Emily asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah." Paige said, grabbing at her chest when she noticed how harsh her breathing had become, "Fine." She breathed out unconvincingly. Her throat was closing in on her and her mouth was suddenly dry. Paige grabbed the collar of her shirt and tugged on it as if it would solve the problem but her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest it was pumping so fast and she couldn't breathe.

"Paige, relax." Emily instructed calmly, pulling Paige's attention out of her own head and onto her, kneeling down a little to be at eye level with the brunette. Emily rubbed up and down Paige's thigh soothingly, trying to get the woman to calm down, "You're okay. Breathe."

Paige took a deep breath, focusing on Emily's hand on her skin and the comforting way it calmed her body. After a couple minutes she felt her breathing steady out as her throat opened up and her body lost its previous tension.

"Sorry." Paige broke the silence, eyes in her lap a little embarrassed, "T-that happens sometimes now." She admitted, taking the chance to take another deep breath.

Emily nodded, smiling sadly at the woman and Paige immediately noticed the worry and guilt in her eyes and the brunette shook her head, waving off the thoughts she knew were running through Emily's mind, "It's not because of you."

"Okay." Emily said a little unconvinced. Maybe it wasn't directly her fault but she couldn't help but assume that Paige had developed what she guessed to be an anxiety attack while she was sorting through issues that she had personally caused in the brunette's life.

"Really," Paige insisted, covering Emily's hand that was still resting on her thigh with her own, "I get in my own head sometimes. Work myself up." She explained, "But you helped a lot." She said with a smile, squeezing Emily's hand and leaning in to kiss her forehead lightly, "Thank you."

"You want me to get you some water or something?"

Paige could clearly see the worry still lingering in Emily's eyes so she nodded with a smile, "Sure, thank you." She said, earning an eager nod from Emily, who got up quickly and was out of the room in a blur.

Emily descended the stairs quickly only to find her mom sitting in the living room, "Hey." She said, walking over towards Pam who looked up from her book.

"Everything okay?" Pam asked, noticing the weird look on Emily's face.

Emily didn't know if she should bring it up or not but ultimately decided that if anyone knew about what just happened with Paige it would be her mom, "Yeah everything's fine, it's just…I had a question."

Pam eyed her daughter with interest, "What is it?"

"So I think Paige just had an anxiety attack." She mumbled quietly.

Pam closed her book and set it down, making a move to stand up but Emily put her hand on her mother's shoulder and pushed her back down gently, "No it's okay, it passed." Emily said, "I just…" Emily paused not knowing exactly what she was trying to get out of this, "I've never seen her have one of those before."

Pam nodded, sensing the uneasiness in her daughter's voice, "It's okay honey, you don't have to worry about them." She said, grabbing her daughters arm and letting her thumb rub at the skin reassuringly, "She doesn't have them very often. I actually thought they had stopped." She admitted, Paige not having told her about having one in a long time, "She started getting them after her accident. Moments where she felt like she couldn't breathe." She tried to recall with a shrug, "You just have to help her through them if you're with her but they're nothing new."

"Right." Emily said with a nod.

She hated that she didn't know this about Paige. It made her remember that they were different people then they had been when she left. Things weren't just all going to go back to being exactly the same. They had grown and changed throughout the time she had been gone. And that was fine, she had known all that already but she had just been so caught up in Paige and them trying to rebuild their relationship that she had momentarily forgotten that things had ultimately changed.

"I, umm, I told her I was going to get her a glass of water so…" Emily trailed off, gesturing towards the kitchen with her thumb.

Pam nodded, giving Emily's arm one last reassuring squeeze and smile before letting her go and watching her disappear into the kitchen, her eyes glancing worriedly up the stairs to where Emily's room was as if she could see straight through the walls and into it where Paige would be.

Emily appeared rather quickly though bringing her out of her thoughts, smiling at her mom before disappearing up the stairs again and back into her bedroom where she found Paige unmoved, in the same exact spot.

"Here you go." Emily handed her the water and watched closely as she took a couple large gulps of it, "Better?" Emily asked, offering to take the glass back once Paige appeared to be done, grabbing it and setting it off to the side on her nightstand.

"I'm sorry about that."

Emily shook her head intently, "No, don't be sorry for that. It's not your fault at all." Emily insisted, "I'm sorry if I said something that freaked you out and made all that happen." She rambled, moving her hands around in meaningless gestures, "I didn't mean to make that happen. I was just trying to think of a way for us to be together but if that's not what you want, that's fine. We can do whatever you want. Long distance could work. Or you know we could just chalk this down to nothing serious, a no strings attached sort of thing if you really wanted that. I mean I don't but I don't know, just whatever you're okay with. Whatever you want, I'm game for it. I-"

"Emily!" Paige cut her off, chuckling at the way Emily's mouth immediately snapped shut and her eyes widened, "Breathe." Paige said, "We don't need you having some sort of panic attack too." She tried to joke to lighten Emily's mood.

"Sorry." Emily sighed, taking a deep, steady breath to calm her nerves.

"Good." Paige stated with a smile, standing up and letting her hands rest on Emily's waist, "You alright there?"

Emily nodded, her hands naturally coming up to circle around Paige's neck, "You scared me." She confessed in a whisper.

Paige nodded in understanding, "I know. I haven't had one of those in a while, it kind of caught me off guard to be honest." She distracted herself by looking down and letting her thumb toy with one of Emily's jeans belt loops, "This is real Emily, you know that right?"

Emily stared at Paige even though she was looking down, "What do you mean?" She asked confused.

"You and me." Paige stated, looking back up at Emily, "If you move back or if I move to New York. Whatever we do, it's real then."

Emily smiled, understanding what Paige was trying to say. Emily shook her head, a light barely there laugh coming out of her mouth, "It's already real." She said, "It was real last night." Emily leaned forward to capture Paige's lips briefly, "It was real this morning." She continued, placing another kiss to her favorite pair of lips, "It's always been real." She whispered against her lips.

"You know what I mean." Paige pulled Emily's body closer, not being able to resist the opportunity.

"Yeah I do." Emily confirmed, "And I know it scares you." She acknowledged knowingly, the extent of Paige's small incident making complete sense to her now, "But I love you." She said genuinely, resting her forehead against Paige's hoping she could feel it, "And I'm not letting you go again. Ever."

"Promise?" Paige whispered as their noses brushed.

"Whatever you want. I'll give it to you." Emily said sincerely, "However slow you want to take it. I'm in no hurry. Promise."

Paige opened her eyes slowly, being met with Emily's half opened eyes staring right back into hers and she doesn't know who brought their lips back together but it felt right. Emily felt right. Paige was ready to put herself back out there. Fully dive head first into whatever this was that they had going. She was tired of tiptoeing through life to protect herself. She trusted Emily and she didn't want to live without her anymore.

"Move back." Paige whispered at the first chance she had when their lips parted for air.

Emily pulled back a little from Paige causing Paige to chuckle, "No," The brunette said with a shake of her head, "Not literally. I meant move back here. I want you to come back home." She clarified.

"Really?" Emily asked, a wide smile appearing on her face, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure about you and you're right, you have no reason to be in New York anymore." She agreed, "I want to be able to be with you. Fully. I want to give this a real shot."

"Me too." Emily agreed.

"So considering the circumstances what are your thoughts on breaking that no sex in the house rule one more time?" Paige asked, struggling to keep a straight face.

Emily let out a genuine laugh that made Paige's face break out into a smile so wide it hurt her face, "I think I can make one more exception, but don't push your luck after that, got it." Emily teased.

"Yes ma'am." Paige responded with a wink, immediately pulling Emily into her and kissing the woman she loved with a new found desire.

This was real and she had a good feeling that everything was going to work out for them. They were finally going to be happy again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **A/N: I know, another ridiculously long wait again for this one and I am genuinely so sorry about that. However I am officially off of school for the summer so the updates should go back to being regular. To make it up to you guys this chapter is a little longer than usual so similar to the last one it's kind of a two in one deal. Thanks for being patient and understanding (or at least pretending to be). Hope you all like the new chapter, as always feel free to leave a review (good or bad). Thanks again for everything, enjoy :)**

The alarm from Emily's phone blared through the room in the early hours of the morning, the sky outside still dark. The offensive noise was followed by a displeased groan from the brunette next to her, Emily sleepily rolling over, reaching out and stopping the alarm. Emily rolled back over onto her back and stretched her legs out under the sheets, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Paige's head before going to slip out of bed.

"Mmm." Paige grumbled, reaching blindly for the woman next to her, "No." She murmured sleepily.

Emily easily could have slipped out of the loose grip that Paige had on her but stopped and turned back to face Paige, "I have to get ready to go." Paige's grip instantly tightened, nothing but a small whine coming from her lips causing Emily to giggle lightly, "Go back to sleep. We don't have to leave for a while." Emily offered, running her fingers gently down Paige's jaw, "I'll wake you up in a little bit."

Paige seemed pleased with that, letting her arms fall from Emily as she buried the side of her face back into the pillow with a yawn, pulling the sheets back up over her shoulders snuggly.

Emily climbed out of bed slowly, moving into the bathroom to shower before getting dressed. Taking her time to make her way downstairs, maneuvering through the kitchen in the dim light to make coffee and a little something to eat, hoping it would be enough to hold her over for most of the morning. Eventually she made her way back up to Paige's room, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Paige.

"Paige, we have to leave soon." Emily said gently, shaking the woman's shoulder. Paige's eyes drifted open to meet Emily's face, a small smile planted on her lips, "Morning." Emily said, smile growing at the small pout that emerged on Paige's face.

"I didn't want it to be morning yet." The brunette stated, wrapping her arms loosely around Emily's hips as she looked up at her.

Emily chuckled at her drooping eyelids, "I know." She said softly, "Me either. But if you don't get up soon I'm going to miss my flight."

"Would that be so bad?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The sooner I go back to New York to get my stuff, the sooner I can come back here." Emily explained, "So yes, it would be so bad." She added playfully.

"Well when you put it like that, I guess it doesn't sound so bad." Paige conceded, sitting up slowly and rubbing the sleep from her eyes before leaning in to peck Emily's lips, "Morning."

Emily hummed in approval as Paige's lips met hers again for a short kiss, "This is never going to get old." She sighed happily, smiling at the brunette in front of her.

"I'm going to miss waking up with you." Paige offered honestly.

"That all you're going to miss?" Emily asked, biting her lip, a playful glint in her eyes that made Paige never want to let the woman out of her bedroom.

"No." Paige said with a sly smile, leaning further into Emily and forcing her to lean back on the bed a little as she ghosted her lips over Emily's neck, "I'm also going to miss those chocolate chip pancakes you've been making me every morning."

Emily rolled her eyes at the comment, shoving Paige away from her lightly. The brunette let her body fall back on the bed away from Emily despite the weak shove, letting out a small chuckle.

"I'm going to remember that when I get back." Emily said teasingly as she stood up off the bed, narrowing her eyes at Paige.

The brunette got out of bed and followed Emily to the other end of the room, "I don't want you to go." Paige whispered as she wrapped her arms around Emily's waist from behind, letting her lips kiss the skin on the back of the tan skin of Emily's neck.

Emily turned in Paige's arms, smiling sadly at her, "I'll be back soon." She promised, "It's only four days."

"I know." Paige said, her chin dropping down to her chest, "It's just that I just got you back." She confessed, "I don't want to let you go yet."

Emily could understand that fully. She felt the same way.

"It'll go by quick." She said, letting her hand slide up and down the side of Paige's torso comfortingly, "And I'll call you every day." She added, "I'm going to call and text you so much that you're going to get tired of me." She joked, trying her best to lighten the mood a little.

"Not possible." Paige said, lifting her head up to look at Emily again.

Emily couldn't help the wide smile that grew on her face at the sincerity she heard in Paige's voice, the comment making her heart swell in a way it hadn't in a long time.

Their lips connected in a passionate kiss for a few moments, hands sliding across bodies in a practiced way, both aware that it would be their last chance to be alone like this for the next few days.

"Come on." Emily said as she finally pulled away, "We're going to be late if you don't get dressed."

Paige sighed, pecking Emily's lips one last time before moving to grab some clothes and changing quickly, jogging down the stairs to meet Emily in the living room. They gathered some of Emily's things that had been strewn about the house in the last week since she had practically been living at the lake house with Paige before making their way out to Paige's truck where Emily's things had been loaded the previous night.

The drive to the airport went by way faster than either of them expected and before they knew it Paige had unloaded Emily's things from the truck, walked her through the airport, and they had reached the gate where they were going to be forced to part. Emily stopped and turned to face Paige who had a death grip on her hand and a sad look on her face.

Emily squeezed the brunette's hand as she stepped into her personal space, "I'm going to miss you." Emily repeated again, both of the two women having already shared the words far too many times throughout the course of the morning.

Paige nodded as she let go of Emily's hand and pulled the woman she loved in for a hug. Emily didn't hesitate to wrap her arms tightly around Paige's waist, burying her head in the crook of Paige's neck. Emily inhaled deeply, trying her best to keep her tears at bay, feeling ridiculous for feeling like this when they were only going to be apart for four days.

Paige pressed her lips against the top of Emily's head, letting them linger a little longer than usual before pulling away enough to look at Emily, "Promise you'll come back this time?"

The words surprised Emily, making her swallow, tears definitely falling this time as she nodded surely, "Promise." She said, leaning in to connect their lips, "I'll always come back to you." She swore against Paige's lips, "Always."

Paige kissed Emily one more time before she let her go, "Call me when you land?" She said, bringing her hand up to scratch anxiously at the back of her neck.

Emily couldn't help the giggle that slipped from her lips at the familiar action, "As soon as the wheels hit the ground." She promised.

Paige was pleased with that, "Alright well you better go." She said, gesturing to the security line that hadn't seemed to be going down at all.

Emily looked over her shoulder briefly, nodding as she returned her eyes to Paige, "I love you." She said, wrapping Paige in a quick hug again.

"I love you too." She said, smiling as she watched Emily grab her bags and hesitantly get in the line off to the side of them.

Paige stood off to the side, out of everyone's way, and watched Emily as she made her way towards the front of the line and through security. Waving at her one last time as she turned to look over her shoulder, their eyes meeting briefly before Emily disappeared into the crowd of people and around a corner. Paige sighed deeply as she turned around, making her way back to her truck alone.

…..

 _(Age 7)_

 _Paige had been sitting in front of the window that overlooked the front of the house for the majority of the day, waiting quite impatiently for the little girl who happened to be her age that her dad told her about to arrive. The McCullers had just gotten to the lake house a couple of days ago and she couldn't help but be thrilled at the prospect of having a friend to play with this summer rather than spending it alone like she had feared when her parents told her they were coming here for the summer._

 _"_ _Dad someone's here!" Paige yelled, eyes glued to the car turning into the long driveway, immediately jumping up from her spot on the window and shooting across the room towards her father._

 _Nick smiled at his daughter as she grabbed onto his leg to get his attention, peaking over his shoulder to look out the window, "Excited?" He humored her. Paige nodded absentmindedly, her eyes already back towards the window although she couldn't see much from this angle, "Why don't we go say hello?"_

 _Paige grabbed her dads hand with a nod and walked to the front door with him, the man leading her out onto the porch and down towards the Field's car. Paige watched as her dad greeted the two adults, a little boy in the woman's arms, but her attention was quickly on the little girl with tan skin climbing out of the back seat. Paige waved shyly when the girl gazed at her curiously, not getting much of a reaction but still bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement anyways._

 _"_ _This is my daughter Paige." Nick introduced when the Field's had gathered themselves and were standing in front of him and Paige._

 _"_ _This is Emily." Pam said, hand on Emily's back pushing her gently forwards._

 _Paige smiled at the girl when she lifted her hand up in a hesitant wave, "Hi." Paige said with excitement clear in her voice._

 _"_ _Why don't you all come in, I was just about to throw some food on the grill." Nick said, already making a movement to return to the house._

 _The Field's followed him into the house, everyone being introduced to the few people that had currently been over at the McCullers house before settling into easy conversation. Emily and Paige both had wandered outside with a group of the people after being encouraged to play outside with one another by their parents._

 _Paige stood next to Emily, a little ways away from where everyone else was gathered, who was sitting cross legged on the grass as she stared out into the lake, her eyes glancing back towards the small crowd of people hovering by the grill and porch to make sure her parents didn't go too far._

 _"_ _We can ride bikes." Paige suggested out of nowhere trying to think of something to do, causing Emily's curious eyes to land on her, "I got a new one for my birthday." Paige stated proudly, gesturing over to a shiny red bike perched on its kickstand in the driveway._

 _Emily simply shook her head, "Mine's at home."_

 _Paige nodded quickly in understanding, her eyebrows pulling together for a moment before they relaxed, "We can go swimming."_

 _Emily looked out to the lake again, "I can't swim."_

 _Paige's shoulders dropped at that, frowning as her shoes kicked at the ground, "Oh." She said, pausing again briefly before speaking back up, "We can just put our feet in." She tried again with a shrug._

 _Emily shook her head again, "My mom says I'm not supposed to go near the water."_

 _"_ _Oh." Paige said sighing as she gave up and laid down on the ground on her stomach next to Emily, "Well my dad says I'm not supposed to go near the lake at night." She said looking out at the water._

 _"_ _Why not?"_

 _"_ _He says there are snakes in there." She answered quickly, happy to get a response from Emily, "He says they only come out at night though and if you're not careful than one could bite your foot right off." Paige stated enthusiastically, having currently been going through a phase of loving reptiles, the prospect of something lurking in the lake outside her house seeming cool to her._

 _"_ _That's not true." Emily deadpanned, immediately making Paige's smile drop._

 _"_ _Is too." Paige disagreed with a sure nod of her head, "You ever heard of lake monsters?" Paige asked before gesturing to the lake, "That's a lake." She informed seriously, "Right there." She emphasized by pointing to the lake._

 _"_ _Monsters aren't real." Emily stated defiantly._

 _"_ _How would you know?"_

 _Emily shrugged, "My mom and dad say so."_

 _Paige frowned, "Well my dad says something different." She argued, Emily not countering, leaving them in silence for a few moments. Paige picked at the grass in front of her, sighing heavily before she spoke again, "My dad said you were going to be fun." She huffed, clearly disappointed with what her supposed new friend turned out to be._

 _"_ _I am fun." Emily argued loudly, frowning deeply at Paige's comment._

 _"_ _He said we were going to be friends but you don't even want to do anything." Paige pushed herself up from the ground to stand with her arms crossed over her chest._

 _"_ _I already have friends." Emily shot back at the little girl._

 _Paige looked down at her shoes, she didn't have a lot of friends. Even back at home there weren't a lot of kids her age on the street they lived on and she spent a lot of her time at school alone, not really liking the same thing as the other girls in her class and the boys who did do stuff she liked didn't want to let her play with them._

 _"_ _You're mean." Paige stated, turning and stomping away from Emily and towards her bike on the other side of the yard._

 _"_ _Am not." Emily said as she followed suddenly feeling like she had something to prove to the other little girl walking away from her._

 _"_ _Are too." Paige yelled without looking back at Emily, finally reaching her bike and turning to look at Emily who had stopped next to her, "I don't want to be your friend anymore."_

 _Without thinking Emily reached out and shoved the young girl harshly causing Paige to fall backwards barely missing her bike and falling against a large patch of dirt that sat next to the driveway. Looking up at Emily from the ground for a brief second with a quivering pout before her head was thrown back and a loud wail escaped Paige's mouth._

 _Emily's panicked eyes darted up towards where the adults were to see Paige's father already jogging towards them, Wayne not far behind him._

 _"_ _What happened?" Nick asked softly as he reached Paige and leaned down to pick her up._

 _"_ _She pushed me." Paige cried with narrowed eyes, pointing a firm accusatory finger in Emily's direction as she buried herself deeper into Nick's arms._

 _"_ _Emily?" Wayne's firm voice made Emily look down, her hands locked together behind her back. Wayne sighed when his little girl didn't say anything, "Emily we don't do that." Wayne scolded mildly, bending down to kneel beside her, "Tell Paige you're sorry."_

 _Emily now had a pout of her own on her face as she brought her arms to the front of her body crossing them over her chest, "Sorry." She grumbled, looking at Paige who had stopped crying despite the harsh quivering of her lip still going as she breathed heavily._

 _Wayne looked over apologetically at Nick who simply waved him off, "She's fine, don't worry about it." Nick said, shifting Paige in his arms, "We'll get her a popsicle and she'll feel good as new, right P?" Nick asked encouragingly, bringing his free hand up to squeeze at her tummy easily sending the girl into a fit of giggles as she squirmed in his arms._

…..

"Hey." Paige greeted with a smile on her face. She had waited quite impatiently for the call to come, having tried to occupy herself for most of the day but failing miserably to get her mind off of Emily, "Get there okay?"

"Yeah." Emily's voice came through the phone, "Sorry I didn't call sooner, the airport was in complete chaos so I just figured I'd wait to call you when I got back to my apartment."

"Well I'm glad you got there safely." Paige said, moving to lay back on the couch. Paige could hear shuffling on Emily's end of the phone and felt her lips tug upward when she heard a muffled crash and a frustrated huff from Emily, "Everything okay over there? You sound like you're battling a monster." Paige teased, "And it doesn't sound like you are winning."

"Ha ha, you're hilarious." Emily said and Paige could practically see Emily rolling her eyes through the phone, "Haven't you heard? Monsters aren't real." This time Paige rolled her eyes but didn't argue, "I just genuinely forgot how small this stupid apartment was and I have stuff absolutely everywhere."

"You should've just let me come with you Em." Paige debated, "I could've helped you pack up all your stuff. We both know I'm the muscle of this relationship."

"I can hold my own McCullers. Never forget it."

Paige chuckled, "Okay Em."

"Oh hold on one sec, okay?" Emily cut in quickly before Paige could get anything else out.

Paige nodded her head despite Emily not being able to see her. She could hear more shuffling around and what she was guessing was the jostling of a lock followed by an opening door. She listened closely as she heard Emily's muffled voice, clearly away from her phone, someone else's voice responding to her. Paige waited patiently, sighing when Emily took a while to return to the phone.

"Hey sorry about that." Emily's voice was suddenly back in her ear.

"No problem." Paige said, "Who was that?"

"What?" Emily asked a little distracted, "Who?"

"Whoever you were talking to?"

"Oh, no one." Emily responded quickly waving it off as nothing, "I just got one of the girls who lives down the way to help me out."

"Isn't it getting late over there?" Paige asked glancing over at the clock that was hanging on the wall.

"It's only a little past 8." She said, "Plus you can get anyone to do anything if you offer to order food. Literally the only thing I'm going to miss about New York is that Chinese food place a couple blocks down. I ordered some as soon as I got to the apartment. It's so good it's made me consider staying here."

The joke fell flat but Paige went with it anyway, "Don't get any ideas."

"You're far better than anything I can find here." Emily said and Paige could tell she meant it by the way all the shuffling in the background stopped and Emily's tone softened.

Paige smiled but it quickly dropped when she heard a weird noise followed by someone's voice in the background say something she couldn't understand before Emily's giggling filled her ears, "Are you sure you need to even be packing tonight, you just got there."

"I only have four days. And I have to go into the office a couple times to wrap some things up so really I don't have all that much time to get all of my stuff together and shipped out to my parents' house."

Paige nodded in understanding, "Yeah I guess. Must be a good friend to come over and help out."

"Paige."

"What I was just saying." Paige heard Emily sigh and the voice in the background came through a little clearer and Paige sat up, her brows furrowing as she focused in on the voice, "Emily who is that?" She asked, thinking she already knew the answer.

"The girl from down the way." Emily answered, "I already told you that."

"You mean Katie?" Paige asked and it came out a little harsher than she ever intended but when Emily didn't say anything she couldn't help but feel a little angry.

"She's just helping me pack some of my stuff." Emily sighed, "That's all. She had some of my stuff over at her place and she was going to drop it off anyways, I thought I could use an extra set of hands while she was here."

"And dinner was necessary too?"

"I don't want to fight with you right now." Emily said, "It's not that big of a deal. You hang out with Sam all the time, I didn't think you'd care."

"Well I'll leave you two to it then." Paige said, irritation fueling her more than anything.

"Paige come on. I-"

"I'll talk to you later." Paige pushed in, hearing Emily's voice speak up again as she pulled the phone away from her ear but she ended the call before Emily had a chance to say anything else to her.

…..

 _(Age 7)_

 _Despite their rough start, the two girls had quickly become the best friend either of them had ever had after Nick had asked Wayne to come down and help him make some small repairs to the house and having brought Emily along with him. Emily had been sent up to Paige's room where she found the brunette sitting in the corner of her bed with a pad of paper in her lap, color pencils spewed messily across the bed in front of her. Paige had reluctantly let Emily join her on the bed, surprised when Emily scooted close to her to peak at what she was doing._

 _"_ _What is that?"_

 _"_ _You wouldn't like it." Paige murmured, tilting the paper away from Emily warily._

 _Emily looked up at Paige, "I'm sorry I pushed you." She said drawing Paige's attention._

 _"_ _Really?"_

 _Emily nodded, "You're right, I was mean." Paige stared at Emily for a moment considering if the other girl was really sorry before smiling and tilting the paper in her lap to face Emily, "What is it?" Emily asked._

 _"_ _It's the lake monster I was telling you about." Paige informed, tongue poking out of her mouth as she put the green colored pencil in her hand back to the paper to color in the remaining colorless spaces of the large green serpent coming out of the lake._

 _"_ _I thought you said it was just a snake." Emily said, suddenly intrigued by the what looked to be more of some type of dinosaur than snake that Paige had created._

 _Paige tilted her head as she looked down at her picture, "Snakes can be big, can't they?" She asked, a crinkle forming between her eyes as she studied her picture, "And monsters are supposed to have big teeth. You know, so they can eat things." She reasoned._

 _The simple explanation was enough for Emily who agreed, smiling when she noticed the small figure standing on what she assumed was the dock that went out into the lake outside the McCullers house, "Is that you?"_

 _Paige nodded proudly, smirk firmly planted on her face as she looked over at Emily, "I have a sword to slay the monster." She said pointing to the jagged sword she had drawn in her own hand, "You wanna be in it?" Paige asked, looking over hopefully at Emily._

 _"_ _Really?" Emily asked excitedly._

 _Paige nodded, already looking through the colored pencils to find the right one before making her selection and putting it to paper, "Every hero needs someone to save." Paige stated as if it was obvious, solely focused on her creation._

 _Emily watched as a new figure was formed, smiling widely as Paige drew a rough version of Emily standing behind the figure that was supposed to be herself, "There." Paige approved as she pulled the paper away from her a little so they could both look at it, "Now you don't have to worry about the monster. You have me to save you from it."_

 _Emily smiled, Paige handing her a fresh piece of paper, encouraging her to draw another scene from the story they were creating surrounding the two of them and the pesky lake monster that Paige's dad had created when they moved here to keep his daughter away from the large mass of water when adults weren't around to keep her safe._

 _They were lost in this project, laughing and talking happily until their dads came into the room with the sad message that it was time to go. After this encounter, the two spent most of their summer days together. They had fun together spending days riding bikes in front of the Field's home, eating ice cream at the parlor downtown, hot days in the lake where she watched as Emily learned to swim, the days flying by as summer got closer and closer to ending. Both girls were aware that when the summer came to the end they would be forced to be separated from one another and neither one liked the idea of it. However the last day of summer came nonetheless and the McCullers said their goodbyes to the Fields, until next summer._

 _…_ _.._

 _(Age 10)_

 _Paige and Emily spent the summer attached at the hip, the two taking turns sleeping at each other's houses since the McCullers had returned to the lake house this summer. Tonight was the McCullers turn, Emily and Paige already out in the front yard, planning on finally spending the night in the new tent Paige's father had bought earlier in the summer after days of begging._

 _After Paige's father had pitched the tent and a fairly lengthy talk from both of Paige's parents about the rules the two girls were supposed to follow while outside "camping" the two girls were sent running towards their designated spot in the yard. Paige's dad had put a small fire pit a few feet away from the tent, keeping a watchful eye on the two girls from the house along with his wife. Both girls were currently laying on their backs on the grass in front of the tent staring up at the stars in the dark sky._

 _"_ _Is that it right there?" Paige asked, shooting her arm up into the air to point something out._

 _Emily leaned closer to Paige's arm, trying to follow her finger to see what Paige was seeing. The little girl hummed in thought as she squinted up at the sky before leaning up to look at the page of the book that was currently open. Glancing at the book and then back up to the sky a few times before nodding her head, "I think that's it!" Emily offered enthusiastically even though she actually didn't see anything that resembled the picture in the book._

 _Paige popped up from the position on her back to lean over and look at the book about constellations with Emily with a wide toothy smile, "See I told you we'd be able to find something besides the big dipper!" Paige called out with pride, flipping to the next page, "You think we can find that one?"_

 _Emily looked at the page of complex lines connecting stars, studying it shortly before glancing up at the night sky that appeared to have far less stars than the book. Emily shook her head as she looked at Paige, "I don't think so. But look." Emily flipped back a few pages to point at a page with a large planet on it, "See that? That's Venus!"_

 _Paige looked up to where Emily was pointing with her mouth hanging open slightly, "Wow." She said in awe, "Whoa did you see that?" Paige asked excitedly with wide eyes, "It was a shooting star!"_

 _"_ _What?" Emily asked in surprise, looking back into the night sky, her eyes scanning everywhere as quick as she could, "I missed it." She pouted in disbelief._

 _Paige giggled beside her, "It's okay. You can have my wish." Emily smiled brightly at Paige, "Go on. Close your eyes and make one before it's too late." Paige encouraged._

 _Emily did as she was told, shutting her eyes tightly, opening them a few moments later, eyes immediately going to the sky again, "Do you think it will come true?" Emily whispered, Paige's eyes glued to the side of her face._

 _Paige's head tilted to the side a little as she thought about it, "Maybe." She answered with a shrug, "What'd you wish for?" She asked curiously._

 _Emily's eyes moved back to meet Paige's, a playful nudge being jabbed into Paige's side, "If I tell you then it definitely won't come true."_

 _"_ _Well it was my shooting star." Paige reasoned, "Since we shared it then it's ours so I'm allowed to know." She concluded with a smirk as she laid back down on her back to look up at the night sky._

 _Emily stared down at her with a smile on her lips, "For you to stay with me forever." Emily whispered as if saying it too loud would impact its chances of coming true._

 _Paige's head turned, half of her face resting on the grass to look over at Emily who was laying down onto her back again too, "I like that wish." Paige admitted softly, "I think that one will definitely come true."_

 _Emily smiled at the sure nod that Paige gave her when she looked at her. Emily rolled over to throw half of herself on top of Paige, hugging the girl the best she could from the slightly awkward angle. Paige being sent into a small fit of giggles as she hugged her best friend back, not bothering to roll away from her after the moment had passed. Both of them laid on the grass like that for a bit longer, whispering words back and forth to each other, giggles between the two of them being traded frequently as they enjoyed their night._

 _"_ _Hey girls." Nick interrupted with a smile as he approached them, "I think it might be bed time." He called out to only receive grumbles from both girls which caused him to chuckle, "Hey I let both of you stay up past your usual bedtimes so I don't want to hear it." He teased playfully._

 _Both girls ushered themselves into the large tent as Nick put out their fire and crawled into the tent alongside the two girls, "Night you two." He said as he checked on both girls, planting a kiss on each of their foreheads before he crawled into his own sleeping bag._

 _"_ _Night dad."_

 _"_ _Night Mr. McCullers."_

…..

 _(Age 12)_

 _"_ _Paige what are you doing!" Emily yelled in a hushed whisper, moving towards the window where she could see Paige leaning against the roof, hands pushed against the rough surface as she slowly made her way across._

 _"_ _I'm coming in." Paige stated as if it was obvious, mumbling under her breath as she got distracted and her foot almost slipped._

 _Emily already had the window pushed open, reaching out to grab Paige by the wrist, "Are you crazy?" She asked rhetorically, as Paige finally made it to Emily's window and crawled in clumsily, "You could've gotten hurt."_

 _Paige shrugged slightly as she looked over at Emily who was pushing the window closed a little further, leaving it cracked, "I will admit I could've worn shoes with a little better grip." She said as she frowned down at her worn down converse, kicking them off her feet easily._

 _Emily shook her head, "You're an idiot." She stated although she couldn't keep the small grin from her face as she was met with Paige's dopey smile._

 _"_ _Well I had to get to your room without waking up your mom or dad. This was the only way I could come up with." Paige reasoned, "You okay?"_

 _Emily nodded, "When I texted you that I couldn't sleep, I wasn't saying that you should scale the side of my house, get on my roof, and crawl through my window to come see me at..." Emily paused to look over her shoulder at the alarm clock next to her bed, "2 a.m."_

 _Paige pulled her sweatshirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor by her shoes paying no mind to Emily, throwing herself onto Emily's bed to lay on her back, crossing her arms behind her head, "You're my best friend. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Paige said with a slight smile and shrug, "Plus I couldn't sleep either." She lied, "So I figured we could not be able to sleep together. Maybe watch a movie or something."_

 _Emily shook her head at the way Paige made herself at home in her room, laughing lightly, "You're the best."_

 _Paige smirked as Emily grabbed her laptop and joined her on the bed, "I know." Paige said leaning into Emily's side as the other girl started a movie._

 _Paige was fast asleep within the first fifteen minutes of the movie, Emily running her fingers through the brunette's hair soothing her to sleep with no trouble. She shut her laptop and dropped it to the ground beside her bed and wiggled down carefully to lay beside Paige without waking her. She sat in silence for a while but eventually fell asleep herself, curled up next to Paige._

 _They stayed there together until Paige's parents showed up at the Field's front door early the next morning asking if either of them had seen Paige, the young girl not having been in her bedroom when they woke up this morning and checked on her. They all peaked into Emily's room to find the two girls still fast asleep on top of the comforter and the window cracked, Paige's shoes and sweatshirt laying just beneath it in a messy pile giving them a good idea of the late night expedition Paige went on._

 _It being the first of many nights throughout the next few years that Paige would clumsily climb into Emily's window in the dead of the night to get a few more hours with her._

…..

 _(Age 15)_

 _"_ _There's only a couple weeks left of summer." Emily said solemnly._

 _"_ _I know." Paige said equally as disappointed, "I can't believe it went by so fast. I hate only being here during the summer." She admitted, "I wish we'd just move her so we could always be together."_

 _Emily smiled over at Paige, feeling her cheeks heat up at the confession, letting silence fall over them for a moment as they both looked out into the water, moonlight shimmer against the dark water as the light breeze created small ripples across the lake._

 _"_ _So how long is it going to take?" Emily asked out of nowhere, immediately grabbing Paige's attention with the raised eyebrow and smirk on Emily's lips as her eyes looked into hers with a mischievousness that Paige wasn't sure she had ever seen._

 _"_ _What?" The brunette asked curiously, completely unaware of what Emily was talking about._

 _Emily dropped her head and let out a soft laugh that made Paige's lips tug upward naturally. Paige took the moment of Emily's eyes off of her to admire the short flowy summer dress that Emily had on, the edges of the dress blowing in the soft breeze as they stood on the dock outside her parents' house._

 _"_ _For you to kiss me."_

 _Emily's voice broke Paige's thoughts away from the dress covering Emily's body, her head snapping up to look at Emily with a ferocity that even surprised herself. Emily simply let out another laugh at the deer caught in the headlights look that had instantly came over Paige's face, the sound filling Paige's ears and nearly making her feel physically dizzy._

 _"_ _Y-you want me to… t-to kiss you?" Paige managed to murmur out in a stumbling mess of a sentence, the all too familiar telltale sign of Paige's nervousness of a hand lifting to scratch at the back of her neck as she ducked her head involuntarily happening._

 _When Paige looked up, finally finding the courage to look back to meet Emily's gaze Emily smiled that smile that had filled just about every thought that Paige had since she had realized her feeling for her best friend. Emily took a couple steps towards her and it was like a scene out of movie for her. Hair blowing softly as she approached. Eyes bright and looking at her with something that she hadn't noticed before but knew she could get used to easily._

 _"_ _Paige?"_

 _"_ _What?" Paige blurted out stupidly, eyes slightly widening like she forgot the girl was there in front of her._

 _Emily shook her head, her best friend's typical self making her forget her nervousness over the situation all together. She had imagined every possible scenario that could play out from her admitting she wanted to kiss Paige but in this moment she realized that it didn't matter whether Paige returned her feelings or not. At the end of the day they were still them. Emily and Paige. The same best friends that they had been since they were seven years old. And nothing would ever change that._

 _"_ _Are you even listening to me?" Emily asked, eyes narrowed as she struggled to hold back another laugh._

 _"_ _I'm sorry." Paige apologized softly, licking her lips and swallowing, her throat suddenly dryer than it had ever been, "You're just really close."_

 _"_ _That's required." Emily stated, eyes flickering down to grab Paige's hand softly, letting her fingers tangle with the brunette's loosely, "I'm going to kiss you now. Okay?"_

 _Paige nodded slowly, her eyes already glued to Emily's lips as the naturally tanned beauty leaned in closer to her._

 _This was it Paige thought. The moment she had dreamed about for years._

 _Paige took in a shaky breath, closed her eyes, and waited for Emily's lips to meet her own. It came sooner than she expected but she caught up quickly, her lips pressing firmly against Emily's in an innocent kiss. It was hesitant and soft, the action clearly unpracticed on both ends but nonetheless the simple contact ignited something in both of them._

 _Paige let her hands come up to rest on Emily's hips, the firm grip giving her something to ground herself with as she suddenly found herself trying to remember everything she had known about kissing and what she was supposed to be doing._

 _Before she knew it Emily was pulling away from her and the brunette let her eyes flutter open slowly to briefly look at the girl in front of her before leaning back in, this time letting their lips move together a little more daringly._

 _It was slow and sloppy, neither having much to go on besides what they had heard from friends and what they saw on over dramatized tv shows but nonetheless neither felt the pressure to be anything but themselves. The kiss came and went quickly in reality but to the two girl's standing by the lake it felt like it lasted for much longer._

 _Emily pulled back with a shy smile, Paige's eyes similarly fluttering open as they separated, "Wow." Paige whispered slightly dazed._

 _She had day dreamed about this moment a lot. More than she would ever admit. And boy did the moment live up to expectations. Considering she never actually expected her best friend to share the feelings she herself had, this exceeded all her expectations. And she couldn't help but hope that it filled Emily's as well, the possibility that she wouldn't allowing a bit of self-doubt and nervousness to flood her system._

 _"_ _I've been waiting for you to do that." Emily confessed, her eyes finding the ground as she felt her cheeks heat up again in embarrassment._

 _"_ _Really?" Paige asked, having had no clue. The nervousness and doubt she felt seconds ago falling from her, quickly being replaced with exhilaration, "If I…I mean I didn't know." She stuttered clumsily, "If I had I would've done it sooner."_

 _"_ _Well now you know." Emily offered sweetly, throwing another shy smile towards Paige._

 _Paige nodded, "So does this mean…" She paused, her brain failing to cooperate with her mouth, "I mean since we kissed and everything." She hesitated, her hand finding the back of her neck again compulsorily, scratching at it nervously as her eyes moved from Emily to scan the lake behind her, "Would you want to go on a date?" She asked, immediately rambling on further, "Not that you have to. But if y-you want to, that'd be cool. Fun. It'd be fun. But we totally don't have to, you know. It's whatever and-"_

 _"_ _Paige." Emily cut her off with a giggle as she watched the girl in disbelief, grabbing her arm and pulling her hand away from her neck, tracing her forearm and letting her hand slide smoothly into Paige's._

 _"_ _Yeah?" Paige responded, her heart physically feeling like it stopped in her chest, moving her eyes to look at their currently intertwined fingers. Was her vision fading out? She thought, blinking her eyes a few times, her equilibrium suddenly feeling off, making her wonder if any of this was even real._

 _"_ _I would love to go on a date with you." Emily said with a bright smile._

 _"_ _Yeah?" Paige asked, the hint of surprise and hope in her voice making Emily swoon over her best friend even further._

 _"_ _Yeah." Emily admitted, smile only growing as Paige beamed at her._

 _"_ _So not bad for a second kiss then?" Paige asked with a dopey smile on her face._

 _"_ _Second?"_

 _"_ _Yeah, remember?" Paige asked, pointing over to the other corner of the dock, "You kissed me over there a couple years ago."_

 _"_ _That does not count as our first kiss." Emily argued, laughing at the memory of bravely kissing Paige out of curiosity back then, "I want this to be our first real kiss."_

 _"_ _Sorry Em, I don't make the rules." Paige said with a shrug, "It's not my fault you couldn't resist me back then." She teased._

 _Emily shook her head, "Be careful or there won't be a third kiss happening anytime soon."_

 _"_ _Well we wouldn't want that would we?" Paige quickly commented making Emily giggle and in that moment Paige had never wished so bad that she permanently lived in the same place as Emily year round._

…..

 _(Age 16)_

 _Paige grabbed her two bags out of the back of her dad's large SUV, backpack already on her back and rushed up to the front door of the lake house, moving quickly through the door her mom had unlocked barely getting the chance to push the door open before Paige was shoving her way past her._

 _The older woman chuckled at her daughter, "What's the rush there P?" Her mom asked, smiling at her knowingly as Paige dropped her bags by the couch with a loud thud, whipping around to look at her mom without hesitation._

 _"_ _Can I please go see Emily?" Paige practically begged, the last few months of only text messages, phone calls, and facetiming not fulfilling her needed fix of the girl that had captivated her over the years properly._

 _Paige's mom looked over her shoulder at Nick who had just come through the door, "What? She's already trying to ditch us?" Nick asked, mocking offense and disbelief._

 _Paige chuckled at her dad, knowing that he was going to let her go, "I've been stuck with you two for months, I need a break." She retorted playfully._

 _"_ _Completely agreed." Nick approved over dramatically._

 _Paige's mom shook her head at the pair, looking over at Paige, "It's late honey." She reminded the girl._

 _"_ _I won't wake Mr. and Mrs. Fields. Promise." She swore, "I'll be super quiet. No one but Em will even know I'm there." She pleaded._

 _Nick looked at his wife, who nodded her head, "Be careful." He told her, accepting the forceful hug Paige gave him before darting past him and out the door, grabbing her bike out of the garage in record time, "Make sure we see you sometime tomorrow." Nick called over his shoulder, hearing Paige closing the garage, calling something out back to him as she took off down the driveway but not being able to understand her muffled voice as she disappeared into the night._

 _"_ _What are we going to do with her?" He said as he turned back to his wife, closing the door behind him._

 _"_ _Just be happy it's not some boy she's running off to slip in bed with." His wife reminded him._

 _Nick's face instantly scrunched up in disapproval, "I'll take my daughter choosing Emily over some grimy young boy any day. How our daughter managed to land someone as smart and lovely as her is beyond me." The joke falling off his tongue easily considering it becoming his favorite way to tease his daughter since her and Emily begin dating._

 _Paige on the other hand was racing towards the Field's house on her bike, the tires feeling a little flat beneath her having sat all summer but not caring as she got closer and closer to the house she was pedaling towards. She reached the Field's house quickly, ditching her bike on the grass by the side of the house, darting for the fence that helped her reach the roof, pulling herself up and climbing with purpose to reach Emily's window._

 _Paige took a moment to catch her breath, knocking on the window gently and waiting for the blinds to be pulled back. When Emily didn't come to the window she banged on it a little harder, startling back a little when the blinds were harshly pulled back revealing a disheveled and confused Emily, sleep clearly in her eyes._

 _Paige smiled brightly at the girl as she watched realization wash over her favorite persons face, "Hey." Paige said cheerfully, "You gonna let me in?"_

 _"_ _Paige!" Emily exclaimed in surprise, rushing to get the window open, "You weren't supposed to get her until Wednesday!"_

 _Paige widened her eyes for a moment when Emily practically yanked her into the room, chuckling when her feet hit the carpet of Emily's bedroom floor a little unsteadily, the hug she was aggressively tugged into somehow managing to keep her from falling over._

 _"_ _I wanted to surprise you." Paige admitted, burying her face into Emily's neck and letting her arms naturally wrap around her waist tightly, allowing herself to breath in the familiar scent of Emily, Paige's eyes closing and body relaxing in her arms._

 _"_ _I missed you." Emily whispered, not showing any signs of letting the brunette go._

 _"_ _Are you sure? Because I couldn't tell." Paige stated playfully in hushed tones, earning a slight punch to the arm from Emily, "Ow. Okay, okay." She said with a wide smile that she couldn't wipe off her face as she pulled back so she could look at Emily, "I missed you too." She said, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Emily's lips._

 _Emily's arms wrapped around Paige's neck tighter as the brunette stared at her with that same dopey smile that she always seemed to have on her face, "How is it possible you got cuter since the last time I saw you?" Emily teased, scrunching up her nose as she studied Paige's face, bringing her hand up from the back of Paige's neck to grab the brunette's chin, turning her head slightly._

 _"_ _Okay, stop." Paige manage to get out through a laugh, swatting Emily's hands away as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed._

 _Emily took the opportunity of the two of them being separated to shut the window and close the blinds, Paige kicking off her shoes behind her and tossing them messily towards the wall under the window. Leaning back to rest most of her weight on her hands, her feet still firmly planted on the ground, smiling as Emily walked towards her._

 _"_ _I'm glad you're back for the summer." Emily said, coming to a stop in front of Paige and resting her hands on Paige's shoulder._

 _"_ _Oh yeah?" Paige asked, smirk on her face, hands naturally finding Emily's waist, thanking the warm weather of summer for being the reason Emily was in nothing but an old baggy t-shirt that hung loosely around her frame._

 _"_ _Mhm." Emily hummed with a smirk of her own, that mischievous look that Paige had quickly learned meant Emily was up to something that usually made Paige's mind completely shut down now on the tanned skinned girl's face._

 _Paige swallowed, train of thought lost when Emily climbed up on the bed to straddle her, Paige's head tilting back slightly so her eyes could stay on Emily's, "T-this is new." Paige mumbled, her grip on Emily's waist tightening._

 _"_ _I guess I just really really missed you." Emily stated in a hushed tone that sent chills up Paige's spine. Her eyes falling shut when Emily dipped her head and let her lips land on Paige's neck, "Is this okay?" Emily asked, barely pulling away from the exposed skin as her hands pushed the edges of Paige's unzipped hoodie off her shoulders, her eyes flickering up to look at Paige._

 _Paige nodded, not trusting her voice to communicate properly. She trusted Emily with everything she had. Paige wasted no time, lightly grabbing Emily's chin and guiding her lips towards her own, kissing her slowly and deeply, allowing her body to fall back when Emily's hands pushed on her shoulders, guiding her onto her back._

…..

Paige immediately felt bad as soon as she hung up on Emily. She laid back down on the couch and threw her arm over her eyes letting out a loud grunt of frustration. She shouldn't feel as mad as she does and she was embarrassed by the mass amount of jealously that was running through her for no reason, all caused by such a stupidly simple thing. The brunette let her arm fall from her face, standing up off the couch and making her way outside to get some air. The day was fading away but the sun was still out, slowly starting to lower in the sky, the summer air still fairly warm on her skin as she made her way across the grass in the yard and down towards the dock. She let herself sink to the ground when she reached the end of the dock, letting her bare feet dip into the water, the cool liquid feeling good against her skin.

She hadn't been sitting there for more than five minutes before she felt her phone vibrate in her sweatshirt pocket. Paige sighed before slipping it out of her pocket to look at it, staring at the picture of Emily that had popped up on her screen, her name printed directly above her smiling face forcing a sad smile onto Paige's. She let out another heavy sigh and answered it but didn't say anything, instead pinching the bridge of her nose and letting her eyes close as she put it to her ear and waited for Emily to speak.

"Paige?" Emily asked immediately, the hint of worry eating at Paige, "Are you really going to do this right now?" She asked, this time her tone not dripping with worry but rather frustration.

"Sorry." Paige forced out, hearing Emily let out a huff on the other end, "I don't know why I got so defensive."

"You mean jealous." Emily called her out without hesitation.

"Yeah." Paige responded in defeat, "That."

"It's fine." Emily said, this time sounding like she understood which surprised Paige, "I get it. I mean who am I to say anything about your jealously? A couple weeks ago I acted the same way with you towards Sam." She admitted through the phone.

"Still. I feel bad about it." Paige said with a shrug of her shoulder, kicking at the lake water mindlessly, "I trust you."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, that girl from down the way isn't here anymore." Emily informed Paige who had a grin creeping on her face.

"What is she, Voldemort?" Paige asked with a chuckle, "You can say her name you know."

"God you're such a nerd." The laugh following the comment that came through the phone seeping into Paige's ear made the brunette simply smile wider, "Okay then. I sent Katie home." She said, "And I have all of my stuff from her now so you don't have to worry about her coming around anymore."

"You know you can have her help you if you need it."

"Are you kidding me?" Emily asked, the frustration returning, "Is this some sort of test or what? Because literally ten to fifteen minutes ago that was not the case."

"I felt bad as soon as I hung up on you. It was stupid." Paige confessed truthfully, "I don't want to be the kind of girlfriend who gets jealous and monitors who you do or don't choose to spend your time with."

"Did you just call me your girlfriend?" Emily asked and Paige could practically here the smile in the other woman's voice.

"I mean, aren't you my girlfriend?" Paige asked, the question feeling weird on her tongue but the word feeling natural when it came to addressing Emily as such.

"Yeah." Emily answered quickly, "Or at least I hope so, but you haven't called me that yet."

"I called you my girlfriend for a very very long time." Paige disagreed.

"You know what I mean, don't be a smartass." Emily stated through a series of giggles before pausing, the line between them silent for a few seconds, "You're my girlfriend."

Paige couldn't help the large grin that appeared on her face this time, smiling while she looked out at the lake in front of her, "Yeah. I'm your girlfriend."

"Good. I like that."

"Me too." Paige said with a soft smile, "So you done packing?" Paige asked, not having heard much movement on the other end of the phone.

"Not even close. But I already gave up for the night. Too tired" Emily admitted, "What are you up to?"

"Sitting on the dock." Paige responded, "Sun's about to set."

"Mmm." Emily hummed, "I'm jealous of you."

Paige chuckled, kicking her feet to make the water slush around, "We spent a lot of time on this dock didn't we."

"So much time on the dock. In the lake. Around the lake." Emily rambled on in agreeance, "And hopefully we'll get to spend a lot more time there. Together."

"I'd like that." Paige confessed, dopey smile on her face.

"We can't let our shooting star down right?" Emily whispered.

"You remember that?" Paige asked in surprise, looking over her shoulder at the open yard that led up to the house, easily being able to picture ten year old versions of the two of them laying on the grass staring up at the stars together.

"Of course I do." Emily said, "It's what I wanted most when I was ten." She confessed honestly, "And eleven. And twelve. And thirteen." She counted off through giggles.

"Okay, okay. I get it." Paige chuckled cutting Emily off as she looked back out at the lake, "I love you Em."

"I love you too." Emily said, "Well I better get to bed. I'm pretty tired and I'm planning on getting up early tomorrow so I can actually get everything done." She said with a sigh, clearly not looking forward to it.

"Okay." Paige nodded, "I'll talk to you tomorrow then?"

"Sure. Call me when you get up." Emily said, "Enjoy your sunset. Don't let any lake monsters get you." She teased, the words oddly tugging at Paige's heart.

"I'll hold down the fort while you're gone." Paige played along with a serious tone before letting her charade fall with a laugh, "Love you."

"Bye. Love you too."

With that they both hung up. Paige sighing as she slid her phone back into her sweatshirt pocket before leaning her weight back on her hands and watching the sun set over the lake, memories of her and Emily growing up here together flooding her mind.

Four days she reminded herself.

She just had to get through four days without Emily before she would come back to her forever. Their innocent and naïve wishes of being together forever would finally come true. Paige would make sure of it this time.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that this story will probably only have a chapter or two left before it's all wrapped up so this is the last chance to drop any requests or anything like that. I'll try to fit any I may get into the remaining chapters so feel free to let me know. As always, drop a review or PM to me, it's always fun to hear from all of you and it's always appreciated! With that being said, enjoy the new chapter and thank you for reading :)**

It was a nearly identical trip to the one she had just taken a couple months ago from New York to her home town but at the same time it couldn't feel more different considering the new circumstances. Last time she had arrived at this airport she had a girlfriend in tow and a knot in her stomach at the prospect of seeing an ex that she had desperately tried to move on from.

This time however the girlfriend who had been in tow was the ex and the ex she had unsuccessfully tried to leave behind was the girlfriend that she couldn't wait to get back to.

Emily took a deep breath as the door to the plane opened and the line of people packed together slowly started to shuffle down the thin aisle ways, Emily following routinely. She finally got to the doors and exited, walking through the tunnel before stepping into the chilly AC'ed airport and making her way towards where she knew her brother would be waiting for her and it took her awhile in the rush of the crowd but she finally spotted Derek leaning against a wall in the back corner away from the crowd, his eyes wandering around just like hers had been before spotting him.

Emily started walking over to him, smiling when her brother's eyes caught hers. She sent him a little wave from across the room, "Hey." She greeted when she reached him, letting go of the small bag she had with her and wrapping her arms around him.

"Hey." He said with a chuckle, "You were only gone for three days, you couldn't have possibly missed me that much already." He joked.

Emily giggled as she let go of him, "No, not at all." She teased, "I'm just glad you agreed to be my chauffer today."

Derek rolled his eyes as he reached down to pick up Emily's dropped bag and threw his arm over her shoulder, leading her to the exit doors of the airport and to the parking lot, "You know I'm always willing to do whatever you need me to." He said, "Within limits of course." He reasoned, "Although it hurts a little that you claim to not miss me as much when you are away but yet you can't even make it four days without seeing a certain someone."

Emily rolled her eyes even though she knew Derek was just playfully teasing her, "You know I love you Derek. But Paige is a lot prettier than you so…" Emily shrugged, a smirk on her lips, "she wins."

"Hey I have a pretty face." Derek disagreed, tilting his head up a little, "Look at this jawline. The girls go wild over it." He continued to joke, "And I'm a lot more than a pretty face. I'm your blood Em, that's supposed to mean something. I mean I bet you and Paige were in constant communication the entire time you were back in New York." Derek continued, "Yet I didn't even get one call. Not one." He exclaimed, "What's that about?"

Emily laughed at Derek's dramatics, causing the younger boy to smile down at her as they reached the car, Emily shoving him away from her lightly, "When did you get so dramatic?" She asked, watching him toss her bag into the backseat of the car as she climbed into the passenger seat, "Don't you have friends to keep you busy?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, "What about all those girls who supposedly go crazy for you?"

Derek shook his head, a smile lingering on his face as he got into the driver's seat and started the car, "Unfortunately not all of us find the one when we're seven." He said, the simple thought of being able to see her girlfriend soon making Emily smile widely, "Speaking of the one, I'm guessing I'll be taking you straight to Paige?"

"Yes, please." Emily beamed excitedly.

Derek nodded, backing the car out of the parking spot and through the crowded structure. The ride back to town felt much longer than it was in reality. Emily's excitement to see Paige growing with every mile closer to the house they got but having Derek to distract her with small talk and the radio made it a little more bearable.

Emily's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Derek pulled off the freeway well before the one they were supposed to take. Emily watched the scenery outside the window pass by for a moment but turned to Derek when she couldn't quite recognize it to know why they were going this direction.

"Where are you going?"

Derek's eyes shifted to look at Emily briefly before returning to the road in front of him, "To Paige."

The simple answer confused Emily further, "Where is she?" She asked, glancing back out the window, recognizing the little town that was just a few over from the one they themselves lived in.

"Oh, she's at work." Derek responded, "She probably would've taken the day off if she knew you were coming home a day early but you wanted it to be a surprise so no one told her." Derek explained.

"I didn't even know she had a job." Emily said a little guiltily.

Paige and her had caught up a lot in the time that they were rekindling their relationship but now that she thought of it, she realized that she had never asked Paige if she had been doing anything. She had just assumed that because Paige hadn't mentioned anything about working that she simply didn't have a job at the moment.

"She never went to work while I was here." Emily told Derek.

"Yeah well it's not really a hard schedule kind of thing she does, you know. Pretty flexible." Derek waved his hand in the air as he pulled up to a rather large building, "She helps out and works when she can or when they need an extra pair of hands. Nothing super controlling or permanent."

Emily hummed in response, only half paying attention as her eyes scanned the building they were stopped outside of, "Am I going to be able to find her in there?" Emily asked, half joking but also kind of seriously as she saw a middle aged woman exit the building, a little boy by her side.

"Just follow the signs to the pool, she's in there ninety percent of the time." Derek said, encouraging his sister with a soft smile, "If she's not in there then just ask around. They'll take you to wherever she is."

Emily nodded as she slowly got out of the car, suddenly nervous for some reason due to the unfamiliar environment, "Okay." She said anyways, "Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime Em. Now go on. Go get your girl." Derek smirked, "I'll drop your bag off at the lake house. I'm assuming you'll be staying there."

Emily nodded, "You're the best."

"I know." Derek responded without missing a beat before driving off and leaving Emily alone.

She walked up to the front of the building, pulling the door open and walking in a little hesitantly. She was greeted with a smile from a lady sitting behind a large desk that clearly belonged to more than her, despite she being the only one there, "I'm looking for the pool."

"Right down that way honey." The woman pointed to her right, "It's way down at the end of the hallway. Just follow the signs." She helped cheerfully.

"Thank you." Emily returned the smile, quickly turning to make her way down the foreign hallway.

It didn't take her long to reach the pool area, the signs along the way and the faint sound of splashing she heard as she got further down the hallway making it easy to find. She pushed the door open slowly and stood off to the side of it when she entered, pushing her back against the wall to give herself a chance to scan the large open area.

There were two large pools and a few hot tub spas off to the side. One of the pools was clearly for swimming laps, dividers neatly separating out lanes while the other pool remained completely opened, nothing floating on its surface. It wasn't too busy in the room, a few young kids straggling around in the pool to her left splashing around with each other, an older boy swimming laps in the pool on the right while a group of teenage girls sat in a hot tub off to the side, their giggling and hushed gossiping traveling through the echoing room.

A series of loud splashes and a familiar voice pulled her out of her observations. She turned towards the sound to find Paige standing in water that was waist deep, smiling brightly at a little girl who was currently kicking wildly as she swam away from Paige. Paige rushing over to grab the little girl when the kicking slowed and the splashes subsided, the scene making Emily's lips twitch up.

Paige lifted the girl out of the water and set her on the edge of the pool her lips moving as she talked animatedly to the little girl, Emily not being able to hear what was being said. She watched for another minute or so before Paige glanced over in her direction briefly before returning her attention back to the little one in front of her. Emily couldn't help the laugh that slipped out of her mouth when Paige's head snapped back towards her so fast Emily was concerned for the brunette's neck.

Emily lifted her hand and sent the woman a small wave, her feet moving on their own accord. Paige pushed herself up out of the pull swiftly, grabbing the little girl she was with under the arms and hoisting her up and onto her hip as she moved towards Emily.

"You're back!" Paige smiled widely, setting the girl down next to her and not wasting any more time, instantly wrapping her arms tightly around Emily's waist and pulling her close once her hands were empty.

"Oh." Emily pulled her hips back a little in surprise, trying to avoid getting her jeans wet, "I am." Emily confirmed, not being able to resist the wide smile that mirrored Paige's as she wrapped her arms around the brunette's neck.

"Oh, sorry." Paige pulled back, cringing a little at the clear wet spot that had already formed on Emily's grey shirt.

Emily shook her head, "Don't be." She reassured, pulling Paige back in for another hug, sighing contently at the missed contact, "It's just a little water. I missed you too much to care." She confessed.

Paige's body relaxed in Emily's arms, smiling as she buried her face into her girlfriend's neck, "I missed you too." She said, "What are you doing here, you aren't supposed to be home until tomorrow night." She reminded the woman as she pulled back a little to look at Emily's face.

Emily shrugged, not being able to resist the grin that was for now permanently stuck on her face, "I managed to get everything I needed to do done early." She informed her, earning an impressive look from Paige, "I figured the sooner I could get back to you the better, so I may have pulled an all-nighter or two to make up some time so that I could get back a day early."

"Emily." Paige said disapprovingly, "You didn't have to do that. You're probably exhausted."

Emily shook her head, grabbing Paige's arm to stop her, the worry on the woman's face giving Emily a kind of giddy feeling. She loved that Paige genuinely cared about her and her well-being, "I'm fine." She chuckled when Paige just frowned, studying her face closely, "I caught up on some sleep on the flight back. Plus, like I said, I missed you." She said, pulling Paige in for a kiss.

Emily hummed in satisfaction as their lips separated, "Yep, definitely worth the lost sleep." She decided, instantly reconnecting their lips before a little voice made her pull away from Paige.

"Paige."

Emily's face formed a soft smile as the little girl standing next to Paige glanced at her curiously as she clung to one of Paige's legs shyly.

Paige chuckled, lightly placing her hand on top of the girl's head, "Sorry kid." She said, ruffling the girl's wet hair, causing her to giggle as she ducked her head to try to avoid it, "This is Emily." She told the girl before looking up at the older woman in front of her, "Em, this is Meghan." Paige introduced.

"Hi." Emily said, kneeling down to get face to face with the girl.

The blonde glanced at Paige almost as if to get permission to engage with the stranger standing in front of her. Paige smiled at Meghan and nodded encouragingly, "It's okay. She's my friend."

"Hi." The little girl said, moving to wrap her little arms around Emily's shoulders to the best of her ability causing Paige to giggle when Emily returned the hug softly, sending Paige a look that signaled how absolutely adorable Emily had thought the whole exchange had been.

"Alright, why don't we get you dried off before we get Emily any wetter than she already is?" Paige said when Meghan let go of Emily, causing her to giggle. Paige grabbed the girl's arm and led her over to a pair of chairs that had two towels and a small backpack thrown messily over them, Emily following the two absentmindedly.

Emily watched Paige grab a towel, shaking it out before draping it over the tiny shoulders of the girl, tightly wrapping it around her before doing the same to herself. Emily watched finding it far too easy to imagine this as something that could've been their own family had she not had ever left. The small girl with brunette hair that fell just below her shoulders and her pale skin reminded her of Paige's when she was little. Emily couldn't help but smile at the thought of a future like this, where having a little girl that was their own standing between them was a reality.

"Em?"

"What?" Emily asked a little caught off guard, "I'm sorry, my mind was somewhere else." She admitted when Paige just chuckled at her.

"You want to join us for lunch?" Paige asked again.

"Paige said we can have pizza!" Meghan exclaimed happily, bouncing on her feet enthusiastically, "And she always lets me get the big ice-cream cone!"

"IS that right?" Emily asked, briefly glancing up at Paige with a raised eyebrow, the brunette just shrugging with a grin on her face as she peered down at Meghan. Emily couldn't help but smile as she returned her attention to the little brunette, "Sure, if you don't mind."

"Of course not." Paige said, Meghan shaking her head in agreeance before she was swooped up into Paige's arms effortlessly, a stream of giggles coming from the girl, "We'd love the extra company. Just let us go get changed real quick and we'll meet you out front."

Emily made her way back out front, spotting Paige's truck in the parking lot and going over to lean against it as she waited. Eventually Paige emerged from the building in fresh clothes, hair dripping wet down the front of her shirt, Meghan hanging onto her back with a wide toothy smile.

Emily smiled softly, as the two approached, Paige dropping Meghan down to the ground and helping her up into the backseat of her truck while Emily sat in the passenger seat patiently before Paige climbed into the driver seat herself. The three spent the afternoon together, Emily being surprised by the clear familiarity and closeness between Paige and the little girl and how seamlessly Emily fit in with the two, finding herself genuinely enjoying the afternoon with them.

Emily also found herself imagining this all for herself again. The thought and fantasy of this being their own little family slipping into her mind far more times than she would ever admit.

She remembers how bad she had wanted to have a baby with Paige once they had gotten married way back before they had broken up. Paige hadn't thought it was the right time yet but Emily longed for it, wanting nothing more than a family. This made it easy to envision it being a reality. Saturdays at the pool with Paige and a child of their own followed by pizza and ice cream. She knew her and Paige weren't quite there yet considering they had just gotten back together but she could still see it anyway.

The daydream of it all was cut short after a few hours when they dropped Meghan off at her current foster home. Emily happy that she would finally have some alone time with Paige but also unexpectedly finding herself sad to end their day with Meghan, the interactions between Paige and the little girl making her heart swell.

"I'm sorry it was such a long day." Paige interrupted Emily's thoughts as they drove back towards the lake house, "You must be exhausted after everything." She added a little guiltily.

"I'm fine." Emily insisted, but Paige quickly cut in again.

"If I would have known you were coming back today I would've made sure I was free all day so we could spend some alone time together." She reached over and let her hand rest on Emily's thigh, Emily's hand drifting to rest on top of it before loosely snaking it under Paige's hand to intertwine their fingers.

"I don't think Meghan would've liked that." Emily looked over at Paige with a soft smile, images of her interacting with the five year old filling her mind and making that longing feeling rise in her once again.

Paige chuckled, her eyes dropping briefly to her lap before turning back towards the road in front of her as she shook her head, "No, probably not."

"I didn't know you worked at a youth center." Emily acknowledged casually, "You never said anything about it."

Paige shrugged her shoulders, "I don't really work there. I mean I spend a lot of time there and I do get paid for some of it but mostly it's just volunteering." She explained, "I help out where they need it."

"Well that's sweet of you." Emily squeezed Paige's hand softly, "Meghan really seems to love you."

Paige let out a small laugh, a proud grin appearing on her face, "I spend a lot of time with her." Paige told Emily, "Her mom passed away two years ago from an overdose and her dad wasn't in the picture. She ended up in foster care and so she's been a frequent member of the youth center the last couple years. I guess we just hit it off."

"She's the cutest." Emily stated, Paige nodding in agreeance, "This whole youth center thing sounds a lot different from your last job." Emily brought up a little cautiously.

Paige let out a hardy laugh, "Yeah. Very different." She nodded in agreeance, "I guess after you left I looked at my life and decided to do something that made me happy." She explained, "You were right back then, you know? I really did hate that job I had."

"I'm glad you finally decided to do something that makes you happy."

Paige nodded, "Well you know when my parents died they left me everything they had. Which is more than enough for me to live comfortably." She reminded Emily who let her free hand wander up to run her nails softly up and down Paige's forearm, "And you know by now that after you left I was pretty messed up for a while there." She brought up, "I quit my job because I felt like it was the reason I lost you and then umm," Paige paused, finding it hard to talk about the time in her life where she lost who she was.

She cleared her throat, trying to reject any unwanted emotions that were building up inside of her, "I went through a rough time." She stated vaguely, knowing that Emily had gotten the synopsis of it already.

"It's okay." Emily let her know softly, "I know."

Paige nodded, swallowing hard to try to avoid any wavering in her voice to show how much she was still affected by her past, "I guess when I realized what was happening to me I just took a hard look at my life and what I really wanted out of what I had left." She tried to explain, "I know, cheesy right." The brunette chuckled humorlessly, feeling uncomfortable with the heavy turn this conversation took, "I just wanted to be better." Paige admitted shyly, "That's all."

"When I was going through physical therapy I went to the youth center a couple of times." Paige said, "My physical therapist worked there part time and so we met there some times and I don't know, I kind of fell in love with the place. A lot of the kids there were troubled or in the system and I wanted to help some of them in whatever way I could so." She said with another vague shrug.

"I think that's incredible." Emily stated honestly, squeezing Paige's hand supportively again.

"It makes me happy." Paige answered simply as she pulled into the driveway of the lake house.

"And that makes me happy."

"Definitely better than spending every waking moment stressing about my job." Paige joked, trying to lighten the mood again, "Considering how little sleep I got back then, there were many many waking hours to stress about."

Emily chuckled as she let go of Paige's hand and unbuckled her seatbelt when the truck came to a stop in front of the garage, "I'm glad you finally came to your senses." She responded, glancing over at Paige with a smirk before they both hopped out of the truck and made their way to the front door.

Paige unlocked the front door, opening it and stepping to the side to allow Emily in before following her and closing the door behind her only to be immediately pushed back against it. Emily had pulled the brunette in for a kiss, letting it linger this time much longer than the previous one's they had shared throughout the day.

It didn't take long for the kiss to grow hungry. Hands getting lost in Emily's dark hair. Tongues darting out of mouths and licking across a plump pair of lips begging to be let in.

Paige gripped Emily's hips tightly, her short nails digging into the sides of Emily's shirt as the brunette walked her backwards deeper into the house blindly. Paige felt a smile creep onto Emily's face as they moved as one, lips still moving slowly together in a rehearsed and perfected motion.

Paige eased her grip and let her hands sink further down from Emily's waist to her backside, pausing for a hungry squeeze that earned her a low moan, before continuing on their way falling low enough to grip at Emily's thighs and pushed her against the closest surface to her which at this point happened to be the kitchen counter. Paige lifted the other woman, Emily wrapping her arms tighter around Paige's neck to make it easier for Paige to keep a hold on her for the brief moment before she felt the cold countertop make contact with her thin jeans.

Emily quickly pulled her lips off of Paige's, dipping her own head to let them nip at the brunette's jaw, slowly trailing her lips down to her neck when Paige tipped her head back in bliss. Emily smiled into the soft skin, letting her teeth come out and dig into the exposed skin hard enough to let the woman feel it, the indentation of her teeth left on the surface of pale skin, but not hard enough to break the soft skin, successfully drawing a small hiss from the woman standing between her legs.

Emily wrapped her legs around Paige's waist securely, pulling the woman as close to her as possible, not being able to stand the slightest bit of distance between them. The minor friction she got from Paige's waist pushing against her making her hips buck momentarily in anticipation. This time Paige was the one who smirked, letting her hands loosely grab at Emily's ass, guiding her hips to continue their movement against her.

"I know this is one hundred percent not the right thing to say right now." Emily breathed out heavily, finally detaching her mouth from the crook of Paige's neck to look at her girlfriend. Paige paid little mind to the pause on Emily's part, continuing on with her own motions, only half paying attention to what Emily was saying, "But can we take this somewhere else because I really can't let you fuck me on this kitchen counter."

"Why not?" Paige asked absentmindedly, leaning forward to press their foreheads together, "It's kind of hot." She admitted as she gazed into Emily's dark eyes, desire taking over her.

"Your mom would kill me if I allowed this to happen." Emily huffed out, biting her lips to try to keep herself together as Paige's hand slipped between them without thought and unzipped the tight jeans she for some reason still had on, the brush of her hand in that particular area making it hard for her to focus on anything else at the moment.

"Well she's not here so she can't kill you." Paige reasoned, sloppily reattaching her lips to Emily's jawline.

Emily let out a small moan of satisfaction. Paige finding gratification in the ability to draw out the noise and felt a strong urge to elicit another one, greedily grabbing at the waistline of Emily's jeans and tugging on them, only getting them past the tops of her hips before being forced to stop because of the countertop in her way, "Lift your hips." Paige directed in a rough whisper, Emily's hips lifting on their own accord despite Emily's brain telling her to stop for a second to at least take this all to the couch that was just in the next room over.

Paige was able to maneuver them around enough with Emily's help to get the woman's jeans down her hips, Emily unwrapping her legs from around Paige to clumsily kick off her sandals as Paige tore her jeans off and tossed them behind her carelessly, "Better." Paige said, stepping back between the raven haired woman's legs to press her body closer again, Emily's legs locking behind her once again. Paige let her hand fall between their bodies again, letting her fingers toy with Emily's panties, eliciting a dirty moan from Emily when her cold fingers slipped them to the side, grazing over the sensitive area.

"Still want to move?" Paige asked knowingly, smirk on her face as she let her tongue lick up the side of Emily's neck.

"God your mom's going to roll over in her grave." Emily sighed a little preoccupied, shamelessly dropping her own hand between her legs to grab Paige's and guide it to where she wanted it most.

Paige chuckled at that, "I knew I could change your mind." She stated proudly, running her fingers through Emily's folds a couple of times before letting them slip into Emily.

"Just shut up." Emily practically growled, eyes closings tightly and head dropped back as Paige's heavy breathing hit her neck in a sensual way that made her body go crazy. She pulled her hand away from Paige's and let both of her hands grip the edge of the counter, her knuckles going white as she tried to ground herself as Paige's fingers pumped in and out of her at a slow but steady pace.

"If you can eat me out in the back of your dad's car then you can definitely let me fuck you on my mom's counter top."

"Paige." Emily protested sternly, eyes peaking open to look at Paige, "Don't ever talk about our parents while you're literally inside of me. This isn't the time to try to prove a point."

Paige let out a small laugh, "Right." She agreed, "Sorry." She added quickly, taking the opportunity to let her free hand pull at Emily's shirt. Emily quickly getting the message and pulling it up over her head instinctively, dropping it to the floor thoughtlessly. Paige hummed in approval, letting her lips wander across the newly exposed skin, as her fingers changed pace, this time moving with a little more force.

Emily could feel an orgasm building inside of her. The familiar warmth that covered her body, the awaited tightening forming low in her belly, the ragged breathing pattern as her heart rate picked up. She lifted one of her hands to snake it around Paige's neck, pulling her towards her to kiss her roughly. Heavy breathing on her part and her foggy mind resulting in it being somewhat sloppy but neither women cared as teeth clashed and tongues collided in need.

"Cum." Paige whispered against Emily's lips, drawing a whimper from Emily.

Emily's body let go as if it had been waiting for permission and the love filled command from Paige's' lips triggered the first of hopefully many orgasm that she had anticipated with coming home.

Paige slowly pulled out of her and brought one hand to rest on the small of Emily's back, the other loosely sitting on the naturally tanned skin of Emily's hip. Emily's head fell to Paige's shoulder as the brunette held her tightly while she recovered.

The two of them sat there for a while until Emily seemed to regain her energy and came alive once again, climbing down from the counter to pull Paige over to the couch and having her way with her there. Eventually they found themselves upstairs in the shower together, climbing into bed well after the sun had set for a final round at it that, simply put, ended in complete exhaustion on both ends.

"Mmm." Emily hummed contently, letting her head fall onto Paige's chest as she entangled their legs together under the sheets, "Yeah, I definitely missed you."

Paige let out a breath, her chest still rising and falling rapidly, "I could tell." She said teasingly, trying to hold a straight face but it quickly falling when Emily pinched the naked skin of her hip in disapproval, causing Paige to squirm slightly as a laugh left her lips, "I missed you too." The brunette sighed happily, letting Emily's head fall off her shoulder as she scooted onto her side and spooned the tan skinned woman, dropping a light kiss to her shoulder before nuzzling her nose into her neck and breathing in deeply, "I love you."

Emily let out another hum, the warmth coming off of Paige's body easing her into sleep, "Love you too." Emily said, her eyes already drifting closed, finally feeling back at home in Paige's arms.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey guys! Yes I am still alive! Let me start off with the obvious, I am so so so sorry for how long this has taken me to get done and posted. I'm still on summer break and I was supposed to have a ton of time to write but life just really unexpectedly got in the way to be honest. There's been so much going on in the last month for me and so I haven't had any time at all and writing was unfortunately put on the backburner for a little while. So I'm genuinely sorry for the wait but I hope some of you are still around to read and that those of you who are enjoy this chapter!**

 **Also I sincerely want to apologize for not being able to get back to all of you who left comments on the last chapter, I did read them all as usual but like I said I had a lot going on in my life and just completely lost track of time. Before I knew it a month had gone by and I didn't get around to replying but please feel free to let me know what you thought of the chapter, I love hearing from all of you and will for sure reply to you all this time around. Also like I mentioned before I'm trying to wrap the story up so I was wondering if you guys would like a little time jump to show them a little later on in the future or if you'd prefer just like a fluffy chapter of them that just kind of follows after this chapter. Maybe some kind of combo of both? I'm open to anything so please let me know what you think or what you want :)**

Paige pulled up to the house, parking her truck in the driveway and quickly jumping out of the drivers seat, taking a deep breath as she walked towards the backseat door and swung it open. She knew Emily would be home from work by now and the anticipation of a possible confrontation with the other woman was starting to make her increasingly nervous.

She wasn't used to keeping things from Emily or springing hidden things onto her girlfriend like she was about to. They, for the most part, told each other everything so this was somewhat new territory for Paige and it slightly terrified her.

"Ready?" Paige asked, reaching into the truck and unbuckling the little girl sitting there, grabbing her hand and guiding her as she hopped out of the tall truck and safely landed on the ground in front of Paige, "Here take these." Paige rushed out, grabbing the flowers they got for Emily and handing them to Meghan before shutting the door and kneeling down in front of the smaller brunette.

"Why'd we get Emily flowers?" Meghan asked innocently as she admired them, letting Paige absentmindedly straighten out her shirt for her.

Paige sighed, "Because it's nice." She said, smiling when Meghan looked up at her with a grin, "Also because she doesn't know you're here yet and when there's ever a chance you could be in trouble with your girlfriend you buy her flowers." She added with a shrug, "It's like some kind of rule or something."

Meghan nodded along as if it made perfect sense to her, "Is she gonna be mad?"

"No." Paige reassured her with a soft smile, quickly sensing the hesitance that came over the little girl at the thought of Emily being upset with her, "She's going to be very happy to see you. I promise." Paige stood up and stretched her hand out towards Meghan who took it immediately, "Remember what I told you?"

Meghan nodded as they started walking towards the front door, "Be extra cute."

Paige couldn't help but laugh when Meghan looked up at her and flashed a toothy smile, tilting her head slightly to the side as she did so, "Perfect." She complimented proudly.

Paige took one last deep breath when she reached for the doorknob, twisting it and swinging the door open before stepping in, "Em?" She called out, "I'm home." She called out after, closing the door behind her.

"In here." Emily's voice echoed from the kitchen.

Meghan dropped Paige's hand and took off towards the voice, any fear or hesitation forgotten. Paige widened her stride to try to catch up to the little girl but turned the corner to find Meghan already lifted up into Emily's arms on the far side of the kitchen, "Hey Em."

"Hey." Emily greeted, glancing over at Paige for a second before returning her attention to the little girl in her arms, "And what are you doing with this little monster?" Emily teased, wiggling her fingers into Meghan's side playfully causing the girl to squirm in her arms.

"Paige said I could stay!" Meghan responded excitedly though a fit of giggles, Emily having to tighten her grip on the girl who nearly twisted out of her arms.

"Well I made plenty of spaghetti so I hope you're hungry." Emily smiled at the eager nod, setting the girl back down on the ground.

"We got these for you." Meghan stated proudly, holding the flowers out towards Emily with a cute tilt of her head and a toothy grin that had Emily smiling ear to ear.

"You did huh?" She said, a smile still lingering on her face, eyes drifting over to Paige who couldn't help but smile back as she watched Emily take them carefully from the smaller girl's hand, "They're beautiful, thank you." Emily leaned down and kissed the top of Meghan's head before moving across the kitchen, setting the flowers on the counter so she could grab something to put them in, "What are they for?" Emily asked over her shoulder, the question more so directed towards Paige but Meghan swiftly took it upon herself to answer.

"Paige said you should always get flowers when you're in trouble." She informed, nodding seriously as she looked at Emily with a satisfied grin, happy that she knew the answer.

"Interesting." Emily raised an eyebrow looking over Meghan to look at the taller brunette still standing over on the other side of the kitchen, "Paige?"

Paige chuckled nervously, "You weren't suppose to say that to her Meg." The brunette reprimanded softly, "You want to go watch tv in the living room while we wait for dinner so that I can talk to Emily real quick."

Meghan nodded, trotting off towards the couch without a second thought. Paige followed behind her, lifting her up onto the couch and switching the tv to something appropriate before turning back to the kitchen only to find Emily's eyes still trained on her, "What did you do?" She asked exasperatedly, hip leaning against the counter.

"I don't know." Paige let out truthfully, scratching at the back of her neck, "I might have done something crazy." Paige started, a little flustered herself, "I mean honestly I don't know what I was thinking but I don't know, I just…" She stopped to sigh, dropping her head a little and rubbing at her forehead, "Can we just talk about it after dinner."

"Paige you're freaking me out." Emily told her girlfriend honestly, "What's going on?"

Paige stepped forward, resting her hands on Emily's hips, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or anything like that. It's nothing bad, okay?" She reassured pressing a soft kiss to her cheek, "It's just something that I had to do and I probably really should've talked to you about it first, I know that but I just- I jumped the gun."

"Why am I not surprised about that?" Emily teased trying to defuse the tension that had momentarily fallen over them.

Usually Paige would act like she was offended by the statement or shoot some smart ass remark back towards Emily but this time she didn't. The situation felt to heavy to make a joke out of so instead she just sighed and shrugged, "Please don't be mad at me." She mumbled as she pulled Emily in for a hug and buried her face into her girlfriends neck.

"Paige," Emily whispered in concern, rubbing her hand up and down Paige's back in an attempt to comfort her, "why can't you just tell me what's going on."

Paige shook her head, pulling away from Emily a little, "Not in front of Meghan okay?" She said, looking over her shoulder at the little girl who was currently paying no mind to them, "She's going to stay with us tonight so we can talk after she goes to bed."

Emily was slightly confused by this. In the three months it's been since she had been introduced to Meghan on the day she flew back into town she had never stayed with them overnight. Considering how on edge her girlfriend seemed to be, Emily ignored the thoughts in her head and simply nodded figuring that whatever it was Paige needed to tell her could wait a couple hours.

"Okay." Emily agreed with a nod, "I almost have dinner done," She said, moving away from Paige and back over to the food on the stove, "why don't you go sit with Meghan and then I'll call you two over to eat when it's finished."

Paige nodded, happy that Emily didn't put up a fight and force anything out of her at the moment. With one last glance at Emily she walked over to Meghan, forcing a wide smile to appear on her face when the little girl's attention turned to her. She dropped herself onto the couch dramatically, slouching next to Meghan and listened as the girl animatedly talked about something that was going on in the cartoon that was currently displayed on the large tv screen in front of them. It wasn't long before Emily called out to them that dinner was done, forcing the two girls to pull themselves up off the couch, stopping at the sink to wash their hands before joining Emily at the table.

They ate and talked, both Emily and Paige forgetting about the previous tension in the house thanks to the little brunette amongst them, all three enjoying laughing and talking around dinner. Before they knew it their dinner plates were empty and in the sink, Meghan had been bathed and tucked tightly into bed, and the two women were left alone in their room.

Paige had already showered and thrown on a pair of sweats and a tank top, currently standing awkwardly at the edge of their bed as she watched Emily move around the room getting ready for bed.

"I told them I would adopt her." Paige blurted out with no warning, even managing to surprise herself a little with the outburst. While she was in the shower she had managed to create an entire speech that she actually thought was pretty good in terms of easing the idea onto Emily but that clearly wasn't an option anymore as her mind went blank due to the shocked look on Emily's face.

"Excuse me?" Emily asked, stopping in her tracks to turn and look at Paige not sure if she had heard her correctly.

Paige took a deep breath, trying to steady her breathing suddenly feeling like her throat was closing in on her, "Meghan." She clarified as if it wasn't obvious who she was referring to, "I told her social worker that I wanted to adopt her."

Emily stared at Paige blankly, not knowing how to respond to the information. She wasn't expecting it at all and the terrified look currently on Paige's face wasn't helping her relax at all. A million thoughts ran through her mind simultaneously. There were so many things she could say but she was having a hard time getting anything at all to come out of her mouth.

"Say something." Paige begged after a couple of moments of complete silence between them, "Please." Paige added much softer, noticing how Emily jumped slightly when she broke the silence in the room before.

"I just…" She trailed off, moving across the room to sit on the edge of the bed, "You want to adopt Meghan?" She asked, still shocked by the information and trying to figure out exactly what was going on and what it all meant.

"Well, I mean…yeah." Paige put it simply with a meaningless hand gesture.

"You didn't say anything about it." Emily thought out loud as she tried to process everything, "I mean I had no idea you were even thinking about that."

"I know." The brunette said apologetically with a sigh, "I didn't even know I wanted to." She admitted, "Or at least I had never directly thought about it."

"So what changed then?" Emily looked up at Paige with soft eyes, searching for any answers.

Paige shrugged her shoulders a little, "There was this couple." She started, moving over to sit down next to Emily, "Meghan's social worker told me that they were looking to adopt. Most people want a baby but it can be a long process and they wanted to help a child that didn't have a high chance of being adopted. They didn't mind if the child they were adopting was already a few years old."

"They liked Meghan." Emily sighed out, easily connecting the dots, "They wanted to adopt her."

Paige nodded slowly, avoiding Emily's eyes, "I just…" Paige paused with another sigh, dropping her head into her hands and rubbing at her face harshly, "She was practically a baby when I met her. She's just been such a huge part of my life and I don't know, I just couldn't imagine not being able to see her ever again."

"You love her." Emily stated, not being able to stop the small smile that appeared on her lips. Emily brought her hand up to rest on Paige's shoulder, squeezing it gently to comfort her girlfriend.

She had loved watching Paige with Meghan. It was something that never failed to make her heart melt in an instant the way that the little girl adored the older brunette and the way Paige adored the little girl right back.

"I do." Paige confirmed, looking up to meet Emily's eyes, "I don't know what came over me but when her social worker told me that they were interested in adopting her I just blurted out that I was too." She admitted, the realization of how big this was finally hitting her now that she was discussing it out loud with the woman she loved, "And I guess because I have a strong relationship with her already the social worker said that Meghan being placed with me would be in her best interest so she would prioritize me when it came to her placement if it was something I really wanted."

Emily nodded, taking in the words and processing them properly before speaking, "So what does this mean then?" She asked, curious as to what steps Paige had already taken.

"They've already seen the house." Paige explained, "They've deemed it a livable space and a safe environment for Meghan to be in. They've also met me and know that I'm a liable guardian for her so really I don't think it would be that hard of a process." Paige trailed off for a moment before looking up at Emily, "They'd want to meet with you of course, to make sure you're liable as well but you would pass no problem. So I guess we'd just have to go through the process of the paper work and all that but that would pretty much be it."

Emily could've sworn she felt her heart stop as the words left Paige's mouth and she really hoped she didn't look as shocked and dumbfounded as she felt, "Y-you want me to adopt her too?"

Now it was Paige's turn to feel like her heart stopped. In fact she wasn't even sure she was breathing anymore as she stared at Emily. Hadn't she already made that clear? Wasn't it obvious?

"Of course Em." Paige said when she finally pulled herself together, "I mean don't you want to?" The brunette asked, kind of taken back that Emily was just now picking up on the fact that she wanted them to do this together, "Haven't you always wanted a family?"

Paige knew the answer. Emily had always wanted kids. She had practically begged Paige to let them start a family way back when they were engaged, it had been the brunette who had made them wait. Fear slowly creeped into Paige's mind as she realized Emily very well could have simply changed her mind on the matter throughout the time they had been separated.

"Of course I do Paige." Emily reassured, bringing Paige's worries to a halt for the time being, "But this is a big deal." She added seriously.

"You don't think I know that." Paige exclaimed a little loudly as she stood up from the bed and peered down at Emily unbelievingly.

"You didn't even ask me." Emily reminded her girlfriend, her frustration growing easily although she tried to keep it at bay knowing that Meghan was just down the hall from their room, "Paige this isn't like getting a dog. We're talking about a child."

"I know that." Paige shot back through gritted teeth, "But I thought that you would want this. I mean I know I should have talked about it with you first. I know that." She emphasized, "But it just all happened so fast and I couldn't let them take her Emily. I couldn't. And I'm not going to."

"I'm not asking you too." Emily tried to jump in but Paige ignored her as she continued to pace around the room restlessly.

"If you don't want this then I'll take her." Paige stated firmly, a determined look abruptly appearing on her face.

"Paige would you sit down please." Emily said, seeing the way Paige's face went from soft to hard, her mood clearly shifting due to the direction the conversation had ended up taking.

"I can do it on my own." Paige continued, ignoring Emily completely now, "I don't need your help if you don't want her."

"Paige stop." Emily demanded, this time far more sternly. The rise in her voice successfully getting Paige to stop and look at her, "What is wrong with you?" Emily asked, really getting upset now, "I know that this is clearly important to you but don't do that. Don't immediately push me out of the picture."

"I—" Paige tried but Emily cut her off immediately.

"You just dropped this massive bomb on me Paige so I'm sorry I didn't react exactly the way you wanted me too but you have to give me a second to process this all." Emily's voice fading as it cracked with emotion, feeling very worked up at this point, "This is a little girl we're talking about Paige. One that would be our responsibility." She reminded before emphasizing, "It's a big deal."

"I know." Paige said, understanding that she sprung this whole thing on Emily and that she was being a little unfair in the situation, "I'm sorry."

Emily shook her head as she took a shaky breath, "I love you." Emily said, standing up to meet Paige where she had stopped in the middle of the room, "And I want nothing more than to marry you. And have a family of our own. Everything. I want to do it all. And I want to do it all with you." Emily confessed, wanting to make sure that Paige knew this had nothing to do with her being afraid to commit to her and their future or anything like that, "But this is extremely sudden and fast and I just need a moment to process it all."

Paige nodded, wrapping her arms around Emily's waist and pulling her body against hers tightly, "Okay." She whispered as she buried her face into the crook of Emily's neck. Emily wrapped her own arms around Paige, pulling her impossibly closer. They stood in the middle of the room like that in each other's arms for what felt like forever, however they broke apart when a faint voice echoed down the hall and slipped into their room, the wall's muffling it to much for either of them to understand what the little girl was yelling across the house.

"I'll go check on her." Paige offered quickly, only to be stopped by a hand that grabbed her wrist and tugged her back.

"No." Emily shook her head, "I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" Paige asked, studying Emily's face, "She probably just had a bad dream or something. I could handle it. Really, it's not a problem."

Emily smiled softly at her girlfriend, the clear worry on the brunette's face over the little girl making her heart swell in her chest, "I don't mind." Emily promised as she started towards the door, "I'll make sure she's okay."

Paige nodded, biting her lip as she watched Emily disappear down the hallway. The brunette let out a deep sigh as she threw herself onto the bed and draped her arm over her eyes. She dropped her head to the side and peaked out from under her arm, staring at the door as if Emily was going to pop back in immediately to send Paige to handle the little girl instead. When she didn't, Paige forced herself to sit up, reaching over to grab the tv remote and flipping the screen on.

Down the hall Emily walked up to the room that Meghan was staying in, pushing the slightly cracked door open all the way and peaking in, "Hey, everything okay?" Emily asked quietly, finding Meghan sitting up in the bed and tired eyes staring at her from across the dark room.

Meghan shook her head, prompting Emily to slip into the room and walk over to the bed in the corner, sitting on the edge, her hand mindlessly reaching to brush a few loose strands of hair away from Meghan's face, "What's wrong sweetheart?" Emily asked in a whisper, "Can't sleep?"

Meghan shook her head, pausing for a moment before speaking, "Are you mad?" The little girl asked hesitantly, big eyes staring up at Emily unsure.

"Of course not." Emily said, a frown appearing on her face, "Why would I be mad?" She asked, swinging her feet up onto the bed and resting her back against the headboard as she mindlessly wrapped her arm around the little girl's shoulders and rubbed her hand up and down her arm soothingly.

"Earlier Paige said you might be mad." Meghan explained as she naturally curled up into Emily, "Remember the flowers." She reminded seriously making Emily let out a quiet laugh, "I heard yelling."

Emily's smile dropped and she sighed heavily, "I'm sorry." She said not really knowing how to handle this considering not having a lot of experience with dealing with this particular kind of situation, "I'm not mad and neither is Paige. We were just talking-"

"Loud talking." Meghan interrupted.

"Yeah, I guess we did get a little loud didn't we." Emily admitted, the nod she got in return making her feel bad that the little girl was seemingly upset because of them, "We're not going to be loud anymore though, okay. And neither of us are mad. Adults just get loud sometimes."

Emily felt Meghan scoot down a little and rest her head against her stomach tiredly, the action and slow nod Emily felt against her body making a small smile appear on her face, "You tired?" Emily whispered softly, her hand having moved down to stroke the girl's back soothingly.

Meghan nodded, "I like it here." She mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah?" Emily asked kind of surprised by the words.

"Yeah." Meghan answered simply, the statement barely being loud enough for Emily to hear as the small brunette nuzzled deeper into Emily, who welcomed the warmth, "Is Paige going to be my new mommy?"

To say the words took Emily by surprise would be an understatement. She was glad she had been sitting down when the words slipped from Paige's mouth because they hadn't been expected at all and she was sure they would've knocked her right off her feet had she been standing.

"Would you want that?" Emily asked, trying to keep her tone even.

Meghan didn't appear to need time to think about it as Emily did earlier. To her it must have been an easy question to answer because she didn't hesitate to nod her head again, "Yeah. I love her." She said, not understanding the weight of the words and the ultimate effect they had on Emily in that moment.

Emily felt her eyes start to water but she quickly pulled it together, "Yeah. I love her too."

A sleepy giggle came from Meghan's mouth and Emily's lips automatically lifted at the corners as she peered down at the girl who craned her neck to look up at Emily, "You can be my mommy too right?"

"Y-you'd want me to be?" Emily managed to stutter out.

"Paige loves you." Meghan reasoned, adjusting her neck to comfortably put her head back in its previous place against Emily's stomach, "And I love you." She added around a tiny yawn, "And you both love me." She put together logistically, "That's what moms do."

Emily couldn't help the small laugh that fell from her lips at the over simplified reasoning that Meghan had used in order to make a decision on the matter but she thought that maybe she out to take notes. Emily felt as if she should say something back. Something impactful or promising to let the girl know that she was loved and wanted but she didn't get the chance as she felt Meghan's small body go limp against her, the girl's back rising and falling in small even breathes under Emily's hand.

Emily wasn't sure how long she sat there in the quiet watching the girl sleep against her but she felt like it was exactly what she needed to calm herself down and give her a chance to think about everything that has happened today.

Eventually she carefully scooted Meghan off of her and pulled the blanket's up, tucking them tightly around her before leaning down and placing a kiss on the girl's forehead. Emily took one last look at the girl before finally making her way down the hall and back into her and Paige's bedroom. She walked in to find the low light of the tv illuminating the dark room, Paige appearing to be asleep with the sheets thrown over half of her body, mouth hanging open slightly. Emily sighed and walked to the bed, crawling in next to Paige carefully.

Paige's eyes fluttered opened for a brief moment, waking from the sudden dip of the bed but her eyes closed again as she wrapped an arm around Emily and pulled her close to her. Emily accepted the warmth and turned onto her side, scooting close to her girlfriend.

Emily let herself think for a moment, knowing that what was about to come out of her mouth could potentially change their lives forever. But after the time she had just shared with Meghan she was suddenly so sure about what she wanted.

"Okay." Emily whispered into Paige's neck, not even sure if she was awake anymore. Emily nuzzled her nose against the skin of Paige's neck lightly, dropping a kiss there in order to get her attention.

"What?" Paige asked groggily, shifting a little so she could actually see Emily's face.

"I'm all in." Emily stated softly as she looked up into Paige's eyes, "I love you and I know I've only known her for a few months but that little girl has already got me wrapped around her finger." Emily admitted, tears slowly glossing over her eyes, "She's strong and beautiful and smart and god she reminds me so much of you." She gently ran her fingers down the side of Paige's jaw as she continued, "She's already gone through so much and I don't want her to have to go through anything else. She deserves the world and maybe it's a little fast but Paige, I think we can give her what she deserves."

Paige couldn't help but stare in awe at the woman she loved. Hearing Emily say those things meant everything to her and she believed them too, "Are you sure?" Paige asked, wanting Emily to really think about it.

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life." Emily promised, "Let's be a family."

Paige smiled wide, suddenly far more awake than she had been moments ago, "Really?" She asked excitedly, pulling herself up to rest on her arms as she faced Emily, who nodded, biting her lip in an attempt to fight the wide smile that threatened to slip onto her own face.

Paige instantly leaned down and connected their lips, Emily letting a small laugh slip between them as she wrapped her arms around Paige's neck, "God I love you so much." Paige mumbled against Emily's lips, not caring about how sloppy the kiss itself had gotten.

Emily laughed again, this time pulling away, "I love you too." She said, bringing her hands up to cup both sides of Paige's face, "Is this crazy?" She asked a little hesitantly.

Paige let a small laugh leave her lips this time as she dropped her head a little and nodded, "Yeah it is." She kind of agreed, "But it's perfect isn't it?" She asked bringing her eyes back up to gaze into Emily's, "We're finally going to have a family."

Emily bit her lip as she simply stared at the clear excitement on Paige's face, getting lost in memories of the two of them discussing the possibility of marriage and kids and growing old together but it always seemed so far away. And after years on top of years of discussing those things with Paige and imagining her life with the brunette it felt wrong to want it with anyone else, so when they broke up she never thought she'd get any of those things. But now she had the love of her life back and everything they ever wanted suddenly seemed to be within her reach and she couldn't be more happy about it.

"I can't believe it." Emily admitted in awe, the night taking a turn she hadn't expected but nevertheless it was an opportunity that she was so grateful for, "Last time I tried to have kids with you it was like pulling teeth." Emily joked exasperatedly in order to keep the mood light, "I'm glad this time around you took the reins on the whole thing."

"It was not pulling teeth." Paige argued, pulling her lips into a small pout, "I wanted them. I just didn't think it was the right time. We were literally living in a one bedroom apartment." Paige pointed out, "Could you imagine? It would've been chaos if we had a little Emily running around in there with us."

"No you're thinking of a little Paige running around." Emily countered, "A little Emily would've been perfectly well behaved."

"I will admit that a little carbon copy of you would be literally the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life but I've known you for a very very long time Em." Paige reminded with a raised eyebrow, "You still want to stick to that whole well behaved thing because that's not how I remember things."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Whatever jerk." She said shoving Paige back down onto the bed away from her playfully, "Speaking of carbon copies though, Meghan reminds me so much of you. Just like a little Paige." She said, her voice suddenly much more serious as she ran a finger down the side of Paige's jaw.

"You think so?" She asked, kind of in awe as she stared at Emily.

"Yeah." Emily whispered as she connected their lips in a passionate kiss.

Paige gladly reciprocated it. She grabbed onto Emily tightly and deepened the kiss putting everything she had into it. Their lips moving together slowly in a practiced manner as thoughts of a future filled with everything they both could ever want with each other danced fresh in their minds.

The kiss went on for a few minutes before Paige's hands really started to wonder. Emily smiled into the kiss but brought her hands to Paige's chest in an attempt to push her back a little. Paige rolled over onto her back, bringing Emily with her and letting her settle on top of her body which just caused the tan skinned woman to laugh in complete bliss as she completely disconnected their lips.

"Not now." Emily mumbled as she leaned back in and slowly kissed Paige, biting down on the brunette's bottom lip enough to draw a small hiss from Paige before tugging on it gently as she pulled away.

"You're giving me mixed signals here." Paige stammered out with her eyes still shut, her lips chasing Emily's blindly.

Emily giggled, pecking Paige's lips innocently once more before sitting back on her heels, resting most of her weight on Paige's thighs, still straddling the woman as she stared down at her, "Meghan." She said with a simple head gesture towards the hallway, reminding Paige of the little girl's presence in the house.

"So this is what parenthood is going to be like huh?" Paige mocked, her lips pulled tightly together in an attempt to keep a laugh from slipping out.

Emily smack her in the chest before rolling off of her, "You're ridiculous." She said with a chuckle, "Go to sleep." She teased, laying back down beside Paige and pulling the sheets back over her body.

"You're telling your mom." Paige stated randomly, turning her head to the side to give Emily a look.

Emily chuckled as she shook her head, "You're such a baby."

"Am not."

"I'm pretty sure my mom already has our wedding planned for us. You really think she's going to be upset about grandchildren?" Emily asked, "She's going to be over the moon."

Paige scoffed, "Exactly." She agreed, "The only thing that scares me more than pissed off Pam is overly excited Pam."

"Oddly true." Emily agreed, drawing a short laugh from Paige. Emily paused letting the night settle over them for a moment as she thought of her parents and brother, "They're going to love her." She breathed out quietly, "Our family." Emily clarified when Paige looked at her curiously, "They're going to love Meghan."

Paige nodded in agreeance, "Although we have to make sure she doesn't like Derek too much." Paige said jokingly, "No way in this world I would accept our child liking Derek more than us and you know he'll try to get her to." She said pointedly, "He's going to give her everything she wants."

Emily bit her lip, her mind stuck on one thing that Paige said, "Our child." She repeated as she caught Paige's eye, "She's going to be our child." She said, emotion suddenly taking over her.

Paige swallowed hard, trying to keep her own tears at bay, "Yeah Em, she's going to be ours." She said with a loving smile, "Our own little family."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey! I actually managed to get this chapter out within a reasonable time frame, can you believe it?! Anyways, as you all know this story is coming to an end soon and because of that I tried to really get this chapter right and make sure I fit enough stuff into it. Hopefully I did a good job and you all enjoy it. The next chapter is going to be a continuation of this one but the final chapter (which will most likely be the chapter after next (so chapter 19)) will be a little bit of a time jump. I read through all of the suggestions I got and I will be able to include just about everything you guys wanted! If any of you think of anything else you want to see before this story ends feel free to suggest it through a review or a PM, no promises but I will try to make it happen. As usual thanks for reading and sticking with me throughout this story, I really appreciate it. Hope you all enjoy :)**

"So I was thinking we could have dinner with everyone this weekend." Paige mentioned casually as she hopped up to sit on the edge of the counter, "Meghan will legally be ours by then and honestly Em it's starting to physically pain me to keep this secret from your mom."

Emily turned the sink off and turned to face Paige to find a small pout on her girlfriends face. She shook her head and let a small laugh slip through her lips, "Yeah that sounds great." Emily agreed, "I mean the only reason I didn't want to say anything was because I wanted to make sure everything worked out and we were able to actually adopt her before we told everyone."

Paige nodded, them already having the conversation as to why they hadn't told anyone about Meghan yet, "I know, but we've known we're going to be able to get Meghan for a couple months now and honestly I'm just so excited." Paige admitted truthfully, "I just want to tell everyone."

Emily couldn't help the small laugh that slipped through her lips as she watched a wide toothy smile slowly appear on Paige's face, her eyes lighting up at the thought of finally making it all official by letting everyone in on their little secret, "I know. I feel the same way." Emily confessed, moving over to stand in front of Paige and wiggle her way between her legs, "I'll invite my parents and Derek over for dinner so we can just introduce them to her all at once. You can barbeque or something, it'll be fun." She smiled, pecking Paige's lips lightly, "How does that sound?"

Paige's hands automatically found their way to Emily's body, resting comfortably on her sides, "That sounds perfect." She said, "You don't think it'll be too much for her do you?"

Emily shook her head, "She loves people. She's been around a ton of new people all her life, she'll be fine." She reassured the brunette.

"I cant believe we actually get to make it official tomorrow." Paige said practically bouncing in her spot on the counter, "Like we're legally going to be parents tomorrow."

Emily bit her lip in excitement, "Can you believe it?" She asked still a little in disbelief that not only they were going to be parents but they had managed to be adopting what they both considered the perfect little girl who fit seamlessly in with the two of them, "It's so crazy."

Paige paused for a moment, reflecting on how big of deal this truly was for them. She didn't see them becoming parents this fast but after spending a couple months with Meghan living with them she couldn't imagine it any other way anymore. It felt like the little girl had always been a part of their little family. Like she had always been theirs.

"You're going to be a great mother." Paige whispered genuinely, squeezing Emily's sides reassuringly as she looked deeply into her eyes.

Paige had known Meghan for years due to her work at the children's center so they both were already friends and completely comfortable with one another but despite that in the last few months Meghan had really taken a liking to Emily too. Paige found herself quickly loving watching Emily come into a motherly role for Meghan, genuinely enjoying all the little things that it brought out of her girlfriend. Everything with Meghan happened so fast but it made her fall deeper in love with Emily in a way she didn't know she could.

"You really think so?" Emily asked, still trying to get the hang of her new role and sometimes feeling a little self-conscious in it, not wanting to mess anything they had going up by doing something wrong.

Paige nodded, bringing their lips together for a brief moment, "She loves you Em." The brunette promised her girlfriend, "And you're so good with her already. Don't worry okay? You're doing perfect."

"Thank you." Emily accepted the words graciously, the reassurance being exactly what she needed in the moment, "You're going to be a great mother to her too you know?" She said, reaching up to tuck a piece of hair behind Paige's ear, letting her fingers trail down the side of the woman's face.

Paige leaned into the touch, "You think?" She asked, a goofy smile appearing on her face as she looked at Emily.

Emily giggled at the look on her girlfriends face, the pride that she found behind her eyes making her smile wide, "You're going to be the best mom, I have no doubt. You're like a giant kid yourself, it's impossible for her not to think you're the greatest."

Paige laughed at that, "I guess that's fair." She said, leaning in to kiss Emily again but it didn't last very long, little bare feet padding down the hallway hurriedly approaching them as their lips met making them pull away from each other.

"Hey honey." Emily greeted cheerfully as the little girl ran into the kitchen and headed straight towards her.

"Morning!" She shouted as she ran into Emily's side, wrapping an arm securely around the woman's leg as she looked up at Paige with a toothy grin.

"Hey munchkin, what are you up to?" Paige asked, letting one of her feet swing out and lightly kick Meghan on the side of one of her legs.

Meghan ignored the question, instead looking up at Emily, "She's not allowed to be up there." She said pointedly, referring to Paige sitting on the counter.

Emily let one of her arms wrap loosely around the girl who was still clinging to her, smiling down at the small brunette whose grin had been replaced with a serious look, "You're right, she's not supposed to be up there is she." She agreed, glancing over at Paige and raising an eyebrow.

Paige pinched her face together in thought as she tried to recall when this became a rule, "I'm allowed to sit on the counter." She argued lightly.

"Uh uh." Meghan replied without hesitation, shaking her head at Paige before pulling on Emily's shirt to get the woman's attention again and lifting her arms up wordlessly.

Emily lifted the girl up into her arms, quickly having learned over the last few months that Meghan had been with them that the little girl liked to be carried around. Emily didn't mind, she enjoyed being close to the girl and she found comfort in the way that Meghan rested her head on her shoulder and loosely wrapped her arms around her.

"Come on Paige," Emily started once she had a good grip on Meghan and the girl was comfortable in her arms, "I told her she couldn't be up there so that means neither can you." She explained, remembering how she told Meghan she couldn't sit up there anymore after Paige had put Meghan on the counter a few times and Emily's nerves on the unreasonable prospect of the little girl falling off and hurting herself increased.

Usually she wouldn't care if someone sat up there, in fact it was a common thing that her and Paige did but she found herself worrying about Meghan so much that she couldn't help herself. She noticed it in Paige as well, how careful she was with the girl and how she always had an eye on her to make sure she was okay, which made her feel better about being so protective all of the sudden.

"Okay fine." Paige gave in, deciding not to question it. She hopped down from the counter and planted her feet on the floor, "Happy?" Paige asked, sticking her tongue out at the little girl playfully earning a giggle from Meghan who buried her head in Emily's neck which just caused Emily to smile brightly.

"Alright you two, behave." Emily said, smiling at her girlfriend as she shook her head, "You hungry Meg?" She asked, brushing some hair out of the small brunette's face once she lifted her head and looked at Emily to nod enthusiastically.

Paige watched as Emily straightened out Meghan's messy bed head by running her fingers carefully through it, the little girl still sporting a pair of purple plaid pajamas, the pants a little big for her small frame. Paige loved every second of it. She loved that this was now her life. Emily holding a little girl comfortably on her hip, quiet giggles escaping from both of the two girls she loved as they made their way through the kitchen and grabbed stuff to make breakfast. What more could she ask for?

The morning went by quick, as did the rest of the day and before they knew it Meghan's adoption day had come. The morning was a little hectic but nonetheless exciting. The day had gone by in a flash and before they knew it they were walking out of a courthouse as official parents. Of course they had already started of thinking of themselves as a family considering Meghan had been in their care for awhile now but this just made it that much more real.

"I'll stop and grab us some food on the way home so you two can just go straight back to the house, sound good?" Emily asked, walking down the steps in front of the large building.

Paige nodded her head and looked down at Meghan in her arms, "What do you think kid? You hungry?"

"Yeah." Meghan mumbled, nodding her head.

"Okay, I'll meet you guys at home then." Emily said, reaching over to pull Meghan's zip up jacket up and over her shoulder where it had slipped down.

Paige shot her girlfriend a smile, tightening her grip on the little girl in her arms as they reached the parking lot and went their separate ways for the moment. Meghan simply hung onto Paige as they made their way towards the truck but eventually turned her attention to Paige and let her curiosity slip out loud.

"Are you my mommy now?"

Paige nearly tripped over her own feet when the words left Meghan's mouth, not having been expecting them. She knew that Meghan had asked Emily about it already but it was different being the one who had to answer the little girl's question. She tightened her grip on Meghan again as she continued to walk them to her truck, turning her head to look at the girl in her arms who was looking right back at her with big eyes.

"Yeah." She responded simply, "Me and Emily are going to be your parents now. Remember we talked about it awhile ago?" She asked a little nervously, but getting a confident nod from Meghan as an answer.

"Why'd we have to do that?" She asked as Paige shifted her in her arms to unlock the truck and swing the back door open.

Paige sat the girl in her car seat and glanced back at the court house before looking back at the girl, "Well this is where you go to make it official." She tried to explain, reaching into the truck to help Meghan with her seatbelt, "Me and Emily had to get permission to take care of you." She simplified the process in an attempt to get Meghan to understand, "That's why it took a little while for us to actually adopt you. We had to do some stuff for it to be official and legal so that me and Emily have rights when it comes to you."

Meghan nodded along as Paige talked despite the older woman figuring that some of it was going over her head, "So now I'm yours?" She asked, "I get to stay forever?"

Paige couldn't help but smile as she imagined the life they had ahead of them, reaching over to ruffle Meghan's hair, "Yeah kid, you get to stay forever." She confirmed, her smile growing as Meghan's did, "Is that okay?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed excitedly bouncing in her seat, Paige thankful that she had already been strapped into her seatbelt sure that it was the only thing keeping Meghan in the truck, "I like it with you."

Paige smiled at the little girl's words. Meghan had already expressed multiple times how much she loved the lake house and how much bigger it was than the places she was used to. And while the girl had always been comfortable in expressing how much she loved Paige she had managed to become just as comfortable with Emily in the short amount of time.

"Well good because you're stuck with me and Emily forever now." She teased playfully, "See I have the paperwork to prove it." She said holding up the folder with a few documents in it as if the kid would understand what she was talking about.

Meghan giggled as Paige made a funny face at her from outside the car, "Love you." She said in between giggles, sending Paige's heart into a mess of flutters.

The two words weren't foreign, Meghan had been saying them to Paige for years but Paige couldn't help but find them to be incredibly important this time around. The first time Meghan had said them as her daughter. And in that moment it really hit Paige. She was a mother now and she couldn't help but feel a certain pride in her chest as the little girl looked up at her expecting the words to be returned.

"I love you too Meg." Paige replied, "Alright what do you say we hurry home." Paige suggested, tossing the folder over Meghan and into the empty seat beside her, "Emily might beat us home if we don't hurry up."

Paige shut the door and jogged around to the drivers seat, jumping into the truck and turning the key into the ignition. She pulled out of the large parking lot and started the drive back to their house on the other side of town. They were about half way their when Meghan broke the silence with a simple word that had Paige's head spinning.

"Mommy?"

Paige swallowed hard, feeling the lump in her throat and fighting it down, "Yeah?" She answered, her voice betraying her a little as the word came out roughly.

"If you're my mommy, then what's Emily?" The little girl asked, eyes still looking at the window.

"Well she's your mom too." Paige answered simply, not exactly sure what Meghan was looking for.

"I know that." Meghan said, "But if your mommy, then what is she?"

"You mean what do you call her?" Paige asked, thinking she might understand now what the girl was confused about when she caught a nod come from Meghan in the rearview mirror, "Well I'm sure Emily would be okay with you calling her whatever you wanted to."

Meghan nodded, accepting the answer and leaving it at that, "Okay."

Paige waited for more but it never came so she just continued on with the drive, reaching their home fairly quickly, successfully beating Emily but not by too much. Once Emily got their they sat down and ate, the night going by in a flash, the little family ending up on the couch to watch a movie together.

"Ready for bed?" Emily asked as the movie ended, scratching Meghan's back lightly, feeling a small shake of a head against her chest where the girls head was laying heavily.

Emily let out a soft chuckle, Paige dropping her head to the side of the couch to look over at her two girls, "I don't know, you look pretty ready for bed to me." Paige said softly, noticing how the little girls eyes started to droop shut.

Emily scooped the little girl up into her arms as she stood up, much to her pleasure receiving no protest from Meghan who just seemed to nuzzle deeper into the woman, "Say goodnight." Emily whispered, bouncing the little girl in her arms gently.

"Night mommy." She grumbled out in Paige's direction before dropping her head back down against Emily.

Emily's smile dropped, looking at Meghan in surprise for a moment before looking over at Paige who just had a soft smile on her lips, "It's a new development." Paige told her quietly, not wanting to disturb Meghan.

Emily felt tears well up in her eyes at the sound of emotion coming from Paige's voice, knowing how much the single word means to Paige. Emily felt her heart clench, not only for Paige, but at the anticipation of the label that she would be on the receiving end of eventually.

Paige gestured towards the stairs with a soft smile, sending Emily off upstairs wordlessly. Emily walked up the stairs, taking her time with the extra weight of the little girl in her arms. She moved into what had become Meghan's room, flipping the lights on awkwardly with her shoulder, not having any hands free before walking over and dropping Meghan onto the bed as gently as she could.

"Goodnight Meg." Emily whispered as she pulled the covers up and over the little girl.

"Night mama."

The words made Emily stop in her tracks, tears wasting no time in welling up in her eyes. The words were quiet and mumbled sleepily but Emily heard the term loud and clear. She knew it would come eventually. She had even tried to mentally prepare herself for the moment but she hadn't expected it tonight. And nothing could prepare her for the way being called mom by her daughter for the first time made her feel.

She watched Meghan's breathing even out and her mouth fall open slightly as she fell asleep, her mind drifting to what the future held for Paige, Meghan, and herself as a family while she tried to collect herself. Eventually she quieted the thoughts in her head somehow and got up to make her way out of the room and downstairs.

"She went down quick." Emily announced to Paige as she descended down the stairs, "She had a long day though so I'm not surprised." She said, coming up behind the couch and dropping a kiss on Paige's cheek, "She called me mama." She whispered next to Paige's ear, not being able to contain the large smile on her face.

Paige snapped her head up, a look of awe on her face, "Really?" She asked, Emily giving her a simple nod of conformation, "You cried didn't you?" She teased.

"Of course I did." Emily answered honestly, dropping a kiss to Paige's lips before letting go of her girlfriend and standing back up.

"Me too." Paige admitted through a giggle before she let it die down, "Really though Em, that's amazing." She said seriously, "I couldn't be happier."

Emily smiled down at the love of her life, "Me either." She promised, "I'm going to grab some water, want anything?" She asked, already making her way to the kitchen.

The brunette shook her head, watching Emily disappear out of the room before turning her head back towards the tv. However the movement made the folder sitting on the coffee table catch her eye, quickly remembering how she tossed it there when she had gotten home. She swung her feet down to the floor and leaned forward to grab it, opening the folder and flipping through the documents before something caught her eye and she pulled the paper out setting the rest of them back on the coffee table off to the side so she could study the one specific piece of paper.

"What is this?" Paige asked when Emily walked back into the room, tilting the paper towards the other woman so she could see.

Emily squinted her eyes as she approached Paige, finally letting her eyes scan over the paper once she sat down right next to Paige on the couch, easily recognizing it once she was close enough to see it, "That's all of Meghan's new information." She answered casually, taking a sip of water before setting the glass down on the coffee table.

"I know that but it's not right." She pointed out, "You put Fields as her middle name." She physically pointed to the line, "We agreed on it being hyphenated. We're going to have to go back and get it changed now."

"No we don't."

Paige looked over at Emily confused, "We cant just leave it wrong." She said a small laugh of disbelief sneaking through her lips. When Emily didn't respond but rather turned her attention to the tv Paige figured something was up, "Emily?" She asked, it coming out far sterner than she intended.

"Yeah?" She asked, biting her lip and looking over at Paige a little guiltily.

"Emily?" Paige said again, dropping the paper onto the coffee table and turning her body a little so she could face Emily, "What did you do?"

"It's not a mistake." She said directly, "I know what we agreed on but I thought about it a lot and when I was filling out the paperwork earlier I just couldn't help myself."

"Couldn't help yourself from what?"

"I made an executive decision." She stated a little more confidently this time.

"Just get to the point Emily." Paige pushed, rubbing at her temple roughly, "I already know you did something so there's no point in beating around the bush."

Emily let out a sigh before slipping her hand into Paige's, "I know when we were talking about it we settled on Meghan Fields-McCullers." She said, Paige nodding in agreeance, "But like I said I thought about it and I don't know I just…it didn't feel right to me."

Paige frowned, looking down into her lap sadly and Emily immediately knew what she was thinking, "No Paige, not like that." She said, tugging on Paige's hand to get her attention again, "I love you and Fields-McCullers has a nice ring to it." She reassured, "But that's not what I want."

"I don't understand." Paige admitted honestly, finding it hard to follow what Emily was trying to get at.

Emily sighed again, trying to collect her thoughts before speaking again, "She didn't have a middle name." Emily tried, "You already knew that and I know we just decided to just leave it like that-"

"But you didn't." Paige jumped in.

"Well technically I left her name as what we agreed on." Emily countered quickly, gesturing to the paper, "Meghan Fields McCullers." She read off robotically, "It just doesn't have a hyphen and now she has a middle name."

"I'm just not understanding what the point is Em." Paige said this time her frustration coming across clearly in her tone and in the way she leaned her head forward and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"The point is that I wanted us all to have the same last name eventually." Emily stated, her voice raising a little but sighing heavily when she saw the same confused look on her girlfriends face when she looked up at her, "I wanted her to have your last name because I want your last name when-" Emily stopped herself and corrected the phrasing, "If we get married ever. I want to take your name." She confessed, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed by the admittance.

"What?" Paige asked quietly, kind of surprised by the revelation, "You do?"

"I've thought about it a lot." Emily admitted, "I mean even before we broke up." She added much again to Paige's surprise. Emily stood up and ran her fingers through her hair, "I just…I know with your parents gone and everything there just isn't anything to carry on your name you know?" Emily explained.

"You've kind of been sucked into my family and you're practically a Fields since my parents took you in but I want us to be our own family." She said with a shrug, hoping she was making sense, "I want your parents to live on through something." She tried her best to explain but just continued to feel more self-conscious about the whole thing the more she talked, "I know it's kind of silly but-"

"It's not." Paige managed to choke out, the roughness in her tone catching Emily off guard, "You want to take my name when we get married."

"IF we get married." Emily corrected, not wanting to jinx it, "I do." She said with a sure nod, "I want to be Emily McCullers and I want our daughter to be Meghan McCullers."

Paige felt herself get overwhelmed very quickly at the confession and the casual use of 'our daughter' that Emily had just dropped in her statement. She knew today would be an emotional and happy day but she had never expected this to happen. But with all the emotions swirling around in her at the moment, happiness was the one that jumped out the most.

"You'd really want that?" Paige asked in awe.

Emily nodded, moving closer to Paige and reaching out to grab her hand again, "I loved your parents. We all did." She added, referring to her family, "I know we'll never forget them and that we'll tell Meghan and whatever other kids we may have all about them but I want something more than memories. I want something to always remind us of them. Of where you came from. How we all became a family." She smiled, reaching up to wipe away a tear that had snuck out of Paige's eye, "The McCullers gave me you and I want to honor them somehow. I know it's small and I know it doesn't seem like enough but it's what I want."

"I like it too." Paige choked out, clearing her throat before speaking again, "The McCullers." She whispered, letting out a wet chuckle, "Wow, there hasn't been more than one McCullers around here in a while. I got used to that being a singular kind of thing."

Emily knew that Paige was just making a joke to cover up the true heaviness that their night had taken, it having been something she has always done but she also could tell that the statement had been partially true and honest. Paige had always been a part of her family and just became a more permanent addition once Mr. and Mrs. McCullers had passed away but despite being accepted with open arms into the family it still wasn't the same as having your own there with you.

"Well now it's plural." Emily said, her heart clenching in pain at the thought of Paige ever feeling alone in this world because of what happened to her parents, "And hopefully we'll get the chance to keep adding little McCullers as we go." She said with an optimistic smile.

"Thank you Emily." Paige offered genuinely, "You don't know how much this means to me." She stated truthfully, taking in an unsteady breath as she reached up to wipe at her eyes as tears continued to fall unwillingly.

"I think I do." Emily said softly, wrapping her arms tightly around her girlfriend and pulling Paige into her, letting the woman drop her head into her shoulder as she cried, "It's okay." She said, letting her hand slip under the hem of Paige's shirt and run her nails up and down the woman's back soothingly, "They'd be so proud of you. You know that right?"

Emily felt Paige nod against her as well as the tears now soaking through her shirt, "You've done so much and you're such an amazing woman."

"I wish they could be here." Paige mumbled out causing Emily to tear up herself.

"I know." She said, trying to comfort Paige the best she could in the moment, "Me too."

They stayed there for a while in each other's arms, Paige allowing the tears to fall from her eyes for the first time in awhile and Emily doing her best to comfort her as she did. Eventually the two got up and went to bed, exhaustion from the day taking over both of them.

The rest of the week went by in a hurry, the weekend being here before they knew it. The morning had gone by quickly and with the early afternoon already passing Emily knew it wouldn't be long until her brother and parents would show up at their house. Paige was upstairs changing, having been waiting for Derek to show up. Emily was sitting on the floor in the living room, Meghan sitting between her legs as the older woman brushed her fingers through the young brunette's hair.

Emily turned her head when she heard a rumble of a car out front, craning her neck to look out the window that peaked out into the front yard to see her brother pulling up behind Paige's truck in the driveway, "Paige!" Emily yelled towards the stairs of their home, "Derek is here!"

It took a second but Paige eventually came jogging down the stairs, Emily shaking her head as she watched her girlfriend shoot towards the front door and towards her brother before Meghan regained her attention.

"Mama who's Derek?" Meghan asked absentmindedly, tilting her head back a little to try to look up at Emily.

Emily gently guided Meghan's head back forward with one of her hands before continuing to twist the separated strands of hair into a braid, "He's my little brother." Emily answered, "He's going to hang out with us for a little while. And then my mom and dad are coming too." She explained, "Remember?"

Meghan nodded, accepting the quick explanation of who the man outside was and forgetting about it quickly, "Can we go swimming?" The little girl asked, mind suddenly on the hot weather outside and the large lake sitting near the house that she had been eying all day.

Emily let out a soft laugh, pulling the hair tie off her wrist and tying it around the end of Meghan's small braid, "Of course we can." Emily said, resting her hands on Meghan's shoulder from behind and leaning forward to peck her cheek sloppily earning a small giggle from the girl, "But later okay?"

Meghan nodded excitedly, "Okay."

"You know mommy said that she was going to tell Derek to stop at the store and get some fire wood so we could sit around a fire later." Emily informed the little girl who turned her head to look at Emily with a wide smile, "You know what that means?"

"S'mores!" Meghan yelled out knowingly, having just been introduced to the deliciously messy treat a couple weeks ago.

Emily nodded, widening her eyes and smile to match the little girl's enthusiasm, "We'll have some after dinner." She promised, "But first we have to introduce you to everyone. You want to go say hi to Derek?" She gestured her head over to the front door, Meghan's eyes successfully following.

Meghan nodded without hesitation, jumping up to her feet unexpectedly and sprinting towards the front door before Emily could even react. The older woman got to her feet much more slowly than Meghan had, walking out the front door and pausing on the front porch just in time to see Meghan run full speed into the back of Paige, wrapping her arms tightly around the brunette's legs and craning her neck to look up at Paige who had looked over her shoulder and down at the girl already.

Emily couldn't help but laugh at the confused look on her brother's face as she slowly made her way towards the group, "Paige there is a small child attached to your leg." Derek stated causing Paige to laugh.

"I know." She said turning around slowly to face Meghan, "Hey kiddo." Paige said with a smile, resting one hand on Meghan's shoulder the other one tugging on her braid gently, "Well don't you look pretty."

Meghan smiled brightly back looking over her shoulder for Emily who stood just a few feet behind her, "Mama did it." She credited, pointing over at Emily.

Derek eyebrows furrowed as he followed Meghan's finger to Emily, "I'm sorry. Mama?"

Paige looked at Emily to find the other woman's eyes already locked on her. Paige gave her a reassuring smile being able to sense that Emily's nerves had suddenly returned. The brunette turned her head to face Derek who was now staring down at Meghan.

"Meghan, this is Derek." Paige introduced, pulling Meghan in front of her and resting her hands on her shoulders, "Derek, this is Meghan." She said, the little girl leaning back into Paige a little shyly but still smiling up at Derek anyways.

Emily stepped forward to stand next to Paige and Meghan, "Our daughter." She added, deciding just to rip off the band aid and get to the point.

"You had a baby?" Derek asked, mouth hanging open in surprise, "When? She looks big."

Paige couldn't help but laugh at the attempted joke, reaching out to smack Derek in the chest, "We adopted her." She informed him, "I mean we've kind of been hiding her here for a couple months, remember I told you that a girl from the kids center I worked at was staying with us?" She reminded him, earning a nod before Emily jumped in.

"We knew we were going to adopt her awhile ago but we just wanted to make it official before we told anyone. Which we did just a few days ago." Emily explained, feeling more comfortable as Derek's face morphed from confusion to understanding.

"So you guys have a kid now huh?" Derek asked looking down at the child in question and letting his eyes take her in.

"We do." Paige squeezed Meghan's shoulders, smiling brightly at her, "We're sorry we kind of just sprung it on you like this."

"We know it might take a little bit for it to sink in." Emily added remembering how she felt when Paige had sprung the idea on her too originally and how it took her some time to wrap her head around it herself.

Derek shook his head, "No, no." He said, not wanting two of the most important people in his life to feel like he wasn't on board with this whole thing, "I think it's amazing. Honestly." He smiled at both of the women in front of him, noticing the happiness that both of them seemed to be exuding in the moment, "So I guess that means I get to be an uncle then."

Paige laughed at the excitement in his voice, "I guess it does."

"Cool!" He exclaimed with a smile, kneeling down in front of Meghan and sticking his hand out, "Hey Meghan, I'm your uncle Derek." He introduced himself properly, not sure what else to really say to the little girl.

Meghan grabbed his hand, letting Derek shake it lightly, "Hi." She said before looking up between Paige and Emily who both smiled down at her encouragingly.

"Meghan here is very excited about the prospect of s'mores." Emily told Derek, Meghan lighting up immediately at the reminder.

"Oh yeah, is that right?" Derek asked, holding up a finger to indicate for Meghan to wait as he turned and opened the back door of the car, "You think this will be enough?" He asked, pulling out a grocery bag and handing it over to Meghan.

Meghan practically let out a squeal of excitement, setting the bag on the ground and digging through it to find more than enough marshmallows, bars of chocolate, and graham crackers to supply them with a hardy dessert.

Emily looked at her brother disapprovingly, "I said to get a little bit, not buy out the whole grocery store." She leaned down to grab the bag, "Remember what I said Meg?" She said with a raised eyebrow, grabbing the girl's attention.

The little girl nodded but put a pout on her face, "Not 'til after dinner." She stated sadly.

"Oh come on Em, Let her at least have a little something." Paige wasted no time saying, mimicking the small pout on Meghan's face as she looked over at Emily.

Emily rolled her eyes but reached down into the bag anyways and pulled out a chocolate bar, "Fine." She said, holding it out but pulling it back a little before Meghan could grab it, "Only half, okay? Don't eat the whole thing. You're going to get more than enough sweets later tonight so you don't need to go crazy right now."

"Promise." Meghan acknowledged the request, taking it from Emily and immediately turning around and handing it to Paige to open for her.

"Well this should be interesting to watch from now on." Derek said, a smug grin on his face as he watched Paige hand Meghan a small piece of the chocolate bar, the little girl shoving it into her mouth happily.

"What does that mean?" Emily asked, eyeing her brother curiously.

"Oh nothing." He said, "It's just pretty clear who's going to fill what role here with this whole parent thing." Paige raised her eyebrow at him, urging him to go on, "Well you're obviously going to be the one who gives her anything she wants." He said gesturing over towards Paige before looking over at Emily, "And you're going to be the one who yells at Paige for doing so while you try to keep everything under control."

"That's so not true."

"Sounds about right."

Paige and Emily both said simultaneously, the two women whipping their heads to look at each other when their responses didn't match up.

"What?" Paige said defensively, "That's not true, I don't give her anything she wants."

"Are you kidding me Paige?" Emily asked barely being able to hold in a laugh, "Literally give me one example of you saying no to her since she's been staying with us."

Paige looked up in thought before frowning and crossing her arms over her chest, "You can't just put me on the spot like that." She argued, "You know I'm not good at thinking under pressure like that."

"It's not the pressure, there's just nothing to say because you give in to her every time." Emily challenged.

Paige opened her mouth to protest but quickly shut it, a pout appearing on her face instead, "Can you believe mama is bullying me right now." She said to the girl in front of her, shaking her head as she handed another piece of chocolate to Meghan.

Meghan shook her head along with Paige, pointing a finger at Emily, "Be nice mama." She said sternly, the cutest scrunched up serious face that Emily thinks she may have ever seen in her life.

"Yeah mama, be nice." Paige repeated, a smirk on her face as she looked over at Emily, "That's my girl." She said when she saw Meghan looking up at her for approval, tugging on her braid again playfully.

Emily looked over at Derek and shook her head, "Look at that you have two kids instead of one." Derek teased, "Welcome to life as a parent."

Emily laughed, glancing back over at Paige and Meghan who had somehow managed to enter a world of their own already, talking quietly to each other. Emily had watched Paige interact with the girl plenty of times since she had been introduced to Meghan but watching it never failed to send a string of emotions through her.

"Motherhood looks good on you guys." Derek said quietly to Emily, startling her out of her thoughts, "I'm proud of you guys." He added, "You both look really happy."

Emily's smile only got bigger as she looked at her little brother, the sincerity in his words meaning the world to her, "Thank you Derek." She said, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a hug.

"You do know mom is going to spoil that little girl right?" Derek said into his sisters shoulder.

Emily let out a laugh as she pulled away, "I can't believe she hasn't figured it out yet." She said honestly, "She definitely knows something is up, I can tell."

"She thinks you guys are getting married." Derek informed his sister.

"What?" Emily asked surprised, "Why would she think that?"

Derek shrugged as he unloaded the wood he brought from his car, "You and Paige have been a little M.I.A. lately. Obviously that's because you guys were hiding a kid from us but who would ever be able to guess that." He explained, "She thought Paige finally proposed again and you guys were just waiting for the right time to tell us."

Emily rolled her eyes, "She's crazy."

Derek chuckled as he unloaded the last bit of stuff, "She's just happy you guys are finally back together. She's been waiting a long time."

"I guess that's fair." Emily said with sigh.

She knew her parents would be over the moon about her and Paige taking this next step in their relationship but knowing that didn't make it any easier for her to calm her nerves about telling her parents about the new addition to their family. She didn't have much time to stress herself out anymore over the thought though as the sound of tires pulling up the dirt path to their house grabbed her attention, turning her head to see her parents car pulling up to the house.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm really really sorry that this chapter took me so long to get up. I have no excuses, I just could not for the life of me motivate myself to write and when I did it took me awhile to get it right so hopefully you all enjoy it and think the wait was at least somewhat worth it. As always I appreciate the support and patience from all of you, you've all been really great. Also feel free to leave a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter if any of you are still out there reading this story, I always love hearing what is and isn't working for the readers. Next chapter will be the last one :( hopefully I'll get it up much much faster than I did this one. Thanks again for everything, enjoy! :)**

"They're going to be happy about it." Derek said reassuringly, "You shouldn't be nervous."

"I'm about to tell my parents that me and my girlfriend adopted a child together." Emily reminded him, "I know they're not going to be mad or anything like that but that doesn't mean it's not a little terrifying."

"Want me to take her inside?" Derek offered, gesturing behind him in the direction of the house, "That way you and Paige can talk to mom and dad."

Emily nodded, "Thanks Derek."

Derek nodded and walked over to Paige and Meghan. Paige having to encourage the little girl to go with Derek, promising her that Emily and her would come inside to join her and Derek in a little bit and that she'd be okay with him. Meghan was a little hesitant but took Derek's hand and let him lead her up to the house without much of a fight anyway.

"Ready?" Emily asked as Paige met her at her side.

"So ready to get it over with and out in the open." Paige said, "I don't know, there's something about introducing her to your parents that makes it feel real. Not that it hasn't felt real." She rushed out, "But this kind of solidifies it. The last step, you know?" She shrugged, looking to Emily for a sign that she was making any sense at all.

Emily nodded, "Yeah. Like we'll all be a real family now." She said in understanding, "Here we go." She said when her parents car came to a stop behind Derek's and her dad shut off the engine.

Both girl's sent short waves towards Pam and Wayne as they approached the car, the older pair taking their time to step out of the vehicle. Pam stepped out first, closing the door and reaching up to hug Emily, "Hi Em." She greeted, pulling away and turning to the backseat, "I have some of the food in the back."

"Oh here, I got it Pam." Paige said, rushing to the car to grab the couple of grocery bags that were in the back seat of the car.

"Thanks honey." The older woman said as she stepped to the side, "Be careful with that one," She reprimanded lightly, "there's a lid that's a little loose on one of the containers and I don't want it to spill." Paige nodded absentmindedly, kicking the car door closed and walking up towards the house.

"Actually mom." Emily stopped Pam when she went to follow Paige, "Can we talk to you and dad out here real quick before we go in?" Emily asked, looking over her shoulder at Paige before returning her attention back to her parents.

"I'll be right back." Paige called out over her shoulder, picking up her pace towards the house a little, reaching it quickly and disappearing inside.

Pam looked at Emily curiously, Wayne coming over to stand by his wife, his arm instinctively wrapping around her, "What do you two need to talk to us about?" Wayne asked.

"Umm." Emily trailed off looking over her shoulder again for any signs of Paige, not wanting to get into it before she got back outside, "It's just a little update on something that has been going on around here."

"An update?" Wayne asked with a chuckle, "Is that much going on in your relationship that we need to be updated?" He teased.

Pam nudged her husband, "Well they have passed on family dinner three times in that last couple of weeks." She said, giving Emily a disapproving look, "I'm glad I'm finally getting some sort of explanation as to why that is."

Emily let out a nervous laugh, letting out a sigh of relief when she heard Paige coming up behind her, "Sorry." Paige said, mostly to Emily, as she stopped next to her, "So what are we talking about?"

Emily gave Paige a look about to shoot a warning to her under her breath about playing dumb but Wayne jumped in before she could do anything.

"Seriously. Why do the two of you look so nervous?" Wayne asked with a chuckle as he eyed the two women in front of him curiously, "Whatever kind of 'update' you have for us really cant be that bad. I'm sure you two have had to confess to much worse when you were younger."

Pam had a similar curiosity in her eyes, ignoring her husband's jokes, "Please tell me you aren't breaking up already." She said exasperatedly.

Paige shook her head quickly, "No we're not breaking up." She stated confidently, "We're doing really well actually." She said with just as much confidence before her face dropped a little, looking over at Emily for reassurance, "We are doing really well right?"

Emily's nerves slipped away significantly at the question and suddenly unsure look on Paige's face, "Yes. We're doing great and we're not breaking up." She confirmed with a smile, reaching up to tuck a loose piece of hair behind Paige's ear.

Pam let out a relieved sigh, feeling comforted by the natural and sweet gesture, "Okay so what is it then?"

"So as we just said, me and Emily have been doing really good lately." Paige started, not really knowing how to get to the point, a sudden set of nerves dropping low in her stomach as she flashed her gaze between a still confused looking Wayne and a now unreadable Pam, "We've worked everything out and have been really happy with each other. It's really going well and we have both talked in depth about where we are in the relationship and what we both want."

"You mean the two of you are actually communicating your feelings clearly to one another?" Pam teased, a hint of a smirk on her lips.

"Mom." Emily warned, sending a small glare towards the older woman.

Wayne nudged his wife like she had done to him earlier, sensing the slight tension, although not being able to keep a small smile off his face at the small jab his wife took at their girls, "Let them say what they need to say."

"Thank you dad." Emily said appreciatively, "Like Paige was saying," She trailed off giving her mom another look as to tell her to not interrupt anymore, "we have fixed things and really feel that not only have we built a strong relationship but are looking at it as completely long term." Emily smiled up at her girlfriend, slipping her hand through Paige's arm and squeezing her bicep comfortingly, "She's it for me."

Paige immediately cringed at her girlfriend's wording noticing how Pam's eyes lit up in excitement, "You're finally getting married?!" The woman exclaimed, not being able to hold in her excitement.

Emily's eyes went straight to her mom's and saw Pam looking back at her hopefully. She quickly looked away and over to Paige for help, recognizing her mistake and not having the heart to tell her mom that she was wrong.

"Uh, no." Paige chuckled nervously, rubbing at the back of her neck as she avoided looking at Pam, "Not yet at least."

Emily shook her head at the way her mother's face dropped instantly, "Mom can you just let us finish please." She said, finding her voice again. Knowing that while her mom was a little disappointed that she would hopefully be even happier about the news they did have to share with her.

"Sorry." Pam mumbled, "Go on." She encouraged, slouching a little into Wayne who couldn't help but laugh at his wife's eagerness and constant attempts to guess instead of just sitting back and listening patiently.

Emily took a deep breath before just deciding to get to the point, "Long story short, we were given an opportunity to do something really great and while it may have been a little fast and a little crazy we decided that it was a step we were both ready for." She admitted, a smile growing on her face as her mind slipped to the little girl inside the house, "The point of this whole dinner is that we wanted to introduce you to someone very special." Emily trailed off, looking over at Paige as she bit her lip.

Emily let her hand trail down Paige's arm and slip into the brunette's hand mindlessly, swooning when Paige smiled back at her brightly before turning towards the two people that she saw as parents, "Our daughter."

Pam's jaw slacked opened and her eyes widened slightly as she stared blankly at the two women in front of her. Paige and Emily took a moment to let both parents process what they had just said. Wayne being the first to collect himself from the surprise statement and speak up.

"A daughter?" He asked slowly, bringing his finger up to point back and forth between the two girls, "Your two's daughter?" He asked a little stunned and looking for conformation that he was understanding.

Emily just nodded slowly, "Her name's Meghan."

Emily felt tears come to her eyes when her mom stepped forward wordlessly and hugged her tightly, "Oh Emily, I cant believe it." Her mom said into her shoulder.

Emily let out a wet laugh, "That makes two of us." She said before pulling back a little to see Wayne hugging Paige already, the two exchanging whispered words that she couldn't quite make out.

When Paige and Wayne pulled away from each other they switched parents. Tears flowing lightly now and whispers of disbelief and congratulations being passed around, the surprise and disbelief still lingering between Wayne and Pam.

"How?" Pam asked once she was able to get a hold of herself, "When?" She asked in surprise, a small laugh slipping from her lips.

"She was one of the kids I worked with at the children's center." Paige explained quickly, "She has been in foster care for a while and something happened and I just couldn't let her go." She admitted, "I kind of sprung the whole thing on Emily a little while back but after some very mild convincing Emily agreed that we should adopt her."

Emily nodded, "We wanted to wait until it was official to let you guys know. But her adoption went through the other day and she's legally ours now."

"Want to meet her?" Paige asked knowingly.

"Do we want to meet her." Pam scoffed, looking at Wayne in disbelief with a shake of her head, "Of course we want to meet her."

"Where is she?" Wayne asked, glancing around the yard as if a little girl was going to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"She's inside with Derek." Paige said, gesturing back towards the house, already starting to move towards it.

"Oh lord, you left her alone with Derek?" Pam said, "He's never looked after a kid in his life. He wont know what he's doing."

"It's okay." Emily said through a small laugh, "Meghan is pretty well behaved, I'm sure if anything she's keeping Derek under control."

Paige chuckled and nodded in agreeance as they made their way inside, Meghan immediately coming off the couch and running towards Paige as soon as the woman was through the front door, "Hey kiddo." Paige said as she caught the little girl and lifted her up onto her hip, "There's someone we want you to meet."

"These are my parents." Emily informed Meghan who was suddenly leaning in a little closer to Paige shyly, "They're your grandparents."

"Hi sweetheart." Pam said, trying to hold herself together as a sudden wave of emotions from seeing Paige and Emily with a daughter between them threatening to spill out of her.

"Well aren't you the cutest little thing." Wayne added, smiling widely at the girl still sitting securely in Paige's arms.

"Say hi Meg." Emily encouraged, reaching over to rest her hand on Meghan stomach, wiggling her fingers playfully, successfully pulling a smile from her daughter.

"Hi." She said sweetly, smiling over at Paige for approval once she was done.

Paige quickly pressed a kiss to Meghan's cheek before setting her back down on the ground, "I wish you two would've given us a heads up." Wayne said, "We would've brought her something."

"A present?" Meghan asked hopefully, an excited smile slowly appearing on her face as her shyness seemed to evaporate suddenly.

Emily shook her head as she giggled, "Meghan has more than enough stuff because this one over here can't say no." She admitted, gesturing to Paige who simply looked back at her with offence.

"I knew you were that parent Paige." Derek called out from his spot on the couch, his eyes glued to some sports game that he had put on the tv.

"Shut up Derek." Paige grumbled, "I definitely say no." She argued lightly towards Emily before looking over at Pam and Wayne, "I say no." She said again a little more firmly when both parents were looking at her with cheeky smiles.

"Meg, when you want something who do you asked? Mama or mommy?" Emily asked as she let her arms drape over Meghan's shoulders and pulled her daughter's back into her front comfortably as she looked down at the little girl.

"Mommy." Meghan said without hesitation, leaning her head back to look up at Emily.

"Traitor." Paige mumbled with a roll of her eyes causing the rest of the room to laugh, "Don't pretend like you're going to say no to her." Paige said, looking at Wayne, knowing from experience that he has a hard time being authoritative.

"Well we're the grandparents so we get to spoil her endlessly." Pam said matter-of-factly, Wayne nodding in agreement.

"Presents?" Meghan asked again with a toothy giggle that made her eyes crease.

"Oh god, she's so cute." Wayne said. It having been so long since he had a little girl running around his house, seeing Meghan reminding him of how much he loved and misses it. But being able to see his daughter and the woman he considered to be his daughter with a daughter of their own overwhelmed him with a certain pride and happiness, "You're going to get so many presents." He said much to Meghan's pleasure.

Pam chuckled, part of her knowing that her husband was joking but also knowing that it was in his nature to give his girls everything they wanted, "But since we didn't know we don't have presents today." She said, not wanting to get the girl's hopes up to high in the moment, "But I did bring cookies." She said, raising an eyebrow, "I bet you like cookies."

Meghan nodded eagerly, letting go of Emily and looking up at Paige expectantly, "Mommy can I have a cookie?" She asked, glancing back at Pam with a smile, "Please?"

"Of course you can." Paige said as if she didn't even have to ask, "But only one before dinner, okay?" Paige added after she saw Emily giving her a look.

Meghan let out a small squeal of excitement, not hesitating to grab onto Pam's hand and pull her towards the kitchen, Wayne following after the two casually.

"Well I think that went well." Paige said as she watched the trio disappear.

"I cannot believe my mother. Mrs. Prim and proper mother is giving out cookies before dinner." Emily stated in slight disbelief, "My dad, absolutely. No doubt. I can see him doing that. But my mom?" She said over dramatically, "I think she's losing it."

Paige couldn't help but laugh, surprised too by how fast Pam switched from the much more strict parent that she had been when they were growing up, "I guess being a grandparent does that to you." She said with a shrug, "I guess when it's not your kid, you don't care if they're a spoiled brat who's hyped up on sugar because well at the end of the day you get to go home and don't have to deal with it."

Emily laughed and shook her head, hitting Paige on the arm as she turned around to move into the kitchen, "If you're not careful she's going to be a brat because of you and your inability to resist that little pout that she has quite quickly perfected since she's been here."

Paige followed after her girlfriend with a knowing sigh, "She did perfect that awfully fast didn't she." She agreed, "I wonder where she learned it from?" Paige said sarcastically.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emily asked a little defensively.

"Oh no. Don't play dumb with me Fields." Paige said, "You perfected a pout that looks awfully similar to Meghan's a long time ago." She reminded, "And you still use it."

"Do not." Emily said, a small pout naturally appearing on her face without realizing it.

Paige rolled her eyes, "It's literally on your face right now." She said, leaning over to peck Emily's lips, "But it's cute so I'll let it slide."

Emily laughed as they joined the family in the kitchen, enjoying getting to see her parents interact with her and Paige's daughter, loving how Meghan seemingly warmed up to Pam and Wayne quickly. The family spent the next couple hours getting to know Meghan as they cooked lunch and hung out around the house. Before they knew it the food had been finished and eaten around the large dining room table and Paige, Derek, Meghan, and Wayne had ventured down to the lake that sat outside the house while Pam and Emily looked on from the front porch.

"It's unbelievable." Pam said suddenly.

"What?" Emily asked, taking a sip of her drink before turning her attention towards her mother.

"I feel like just yesterday that was you." Pam said gesturing over towards Meghan, "Running around the yard barefoot. Paige right behind you." She remembered, looking down in thought with a smile as if she could see the scene in her head, "And now here you are with one of your own."

A small smile graced Emily's lips, that same feeling that she had been getting used to at the thought of being Meghan's mother overwhelming her with pride. She glanced up from the porch, being able to see the whole yard from her spot. She let her eyes wander towards the lake where her mother had been looking moments ago. She saw a sight that she knew she would never grow tired of. Meghan barefoot just as her mom had pointed out, bathing suit covering her small body, wet hair bouncing freely as she ran through the yard, and although Emily couldn't hear her she could tell that the girl was laughing loudly. Paige's similar brown hair bouncing far less as she chased after the little girl, purposefully slowing down and letting the girl get away from her. She could hear Derek shouting from the dock for the little girl to run faster, her father watching as well from a chair off to the side.

She smiled as Paige caught up to their daughter, grabbing her and swinging her up into her arms, a squeal of joy from the little girl making its way to her ears as Paige took off towards the water and jumped into the lake, the two surfacing with big smiles. Paige immediately grabbing back onto the girl and helping her swim over to the edge of the dock.

"I wasn't sure we were ready when Paige brought up the idea." Emily admitted, finally tearing her eyes away from the scene and giving her attention to her mother, "But I'm really happy mom. She's incredible and I feel so lucky to be a part of her life."

Pam smiled fondly at her daughter, "I'm happy that you're happy. And I'm happy that Paige is happy again too." She admitted, looking back up over at the rest of the family, "You know when you left she never was able to pull herself all the way back together."

Emily nodded, swallowing down the guilt she still felt for leaving. She had never intended to hurt Paige as much as she did. She never wanted to hurt her at all and it kills her to think about how much she did and for how long it affected the love of her life.

"I can see that spark in her eyes again now." Pam tried to explain to Emily, "She's happy again. Genuinely happy. And as parents that's all we can ever ask for."

Emily nodded, wiping at her eyes before any tears could manage to escape. She got it now. Wanting the world for your child. How the love and pride you feel for a child is different from any other.

The day had gone by fast, morphing into night before any of them were ready for it to. The sun fading behind the lake forced them to get out of the lake and change into something appropriate for the chill in the air that came up as the moon appeared in the night sky. Pam and Emily had found themselves inside cleaning up the mess that had formed in the house throughout the day while Wayne built a small fire for Paige, Derek, and Meghan to sit around outside much to the joy of the little girl who had been waiting patiently for smores all day long.

"Mommy." Meghan said with a small pout, "We're out." She informed, holding up the empty bag of marshmallows as if proof was needed.

Paige ran her hand over the little girl's head, brushing back a couple of messy strands of hair that had managed to escaper her ponytail, "You want me to go get another bag?" She asked, knowing that the bag that was now finished was already opened and running low before they had even started the fire.

Meghan nodded eagerly, "Please." She said politely, leaning back in her fold out chair as she stuck her empty metal stick over the fire with a toothy grin plastered on her face.

Paige shook her head at the girl who had traces of sticky marshmallow and chocolate smeared on the corners of her mouth. Paige's eyes trailing on the girl for a moment longer, loving the fearlessness and curiosity that swirled in her eyes as she watched the fire dance around the metal stick, "Watch her." Paige said sternly towards Derek who was just as consumed by the fire as the little girl.

"You got it boss." Derek said with a salute.

Meghan giggled as she watched, having warmed up to Derek by now and already taken a liking to the young man and his antics, which no doubt put a certain fear in Paige as she eyed the pair.

"Don't worry sis." Derek said looking over his shoulder where his dad had gone over to grab some more wood out of the back of the truck, "He's going to be back over here in a sec. I can manage to not let her fall into the fire before he returns."

Paige gave him a pointed look, hesitantly walking away from the two and towards the house, taking the few steps on the porch quickly and jogged into the house.

"Hey babe." She said when she spotted Emily on the couch, "You coming out?" She asked, dropping a kiss to the top of Emily's head from behind the couch before moving towards the kitchen.

"Yeah I was just waiting for my mom to finish up." She said, pulling herself up off the couch and lazily following after Paige into the kitchen where her mom was cleaning up.

"I thought guests weren't supposed to do the cleaning." Paige said as she spotted Pam in front of the sink finishing up some dishes, "Isn't that the best part of going to someone else's house for dinner. You eat, you hang out, you go home. No cleaning up."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Well she insisted and I'd rather not start a losing battle with my mom tonight."

"Smart girl." Paige said, grabbing a bag of marshmallows out of one of the bags that still sat in the far corner of the kitchen from earlier.

"It's good that you found yourself a smart girl to marry honey." Pam casually threw over her shoulder towards Paige.

"Yes ma'am." She said with a smile, wrapping an arm around Emily's waist and pulling her in for a kiss.

Emily laughed into the kiss but kissed the brunette back without any argument, "Oh so now you're going to marry me?" Emily teased as she pulled away.

"Mhm." Paige hummed as if it was obvious.

Pam glanced back at the pair, turning the water off and watching in amusement.

"But I already proposed so now you have to do it. It's your turn to pop the question." Paige said with a shrug, sending a wink towards Pam as Emily's jaw slacked in surprise.

"What?"

"Yep." Paige confirmed with a confident nod, "You had your chance with me Fields. Now you have to do all the hard work."

"You've never said anything about that before." Emily argued, "Since when is this a thing?"

Paige shrugged again, "I don't know, since I thought about it right now." She answered truthfully, "Pam's with me on this one, right?"

"Absolutely." Pam nodded firmly, "What?" The older woman asked when she saw Emily look at her with wide eyes, "She's right, she already did it once." Pam teased, playing along with the whole thing, "But I'm not getting involved." She said putting her hands up, "As long as the two of you get married, I don't care who pops the question." She admitted before giving the two one last look and walking out of the kitchen to go join the rest of the family outside.

"But I liked when you proposed to me." Emily protested with a small pout once her mom was gone and they were alone.

Paige rolled her eyes playfully, "There's that infamous pout again." She pointed out, letting a laugh fall from her lips, "You're such a baby." She teased, tossing the marshmallows back onto the counter so she could wrap her arms around Emily's waist and drop a quick peck to Emily's lips.

"Am not." She maintained, letting her arms reach up to fall around Paige's neck loosely, "You're really not going to propose to me?" She asked sadly, pout still firmly planted on her face.

"Nope." Paige remained confident with a shake of her head, small smirk lingering on her lips.

Emily let a mischievous smile grace her lips as she leaned in and kissed Paige softly, "And you can't be persuaded on this?" She asked, pushing her body flush against Paige's. letting her lips wander from Paige's to the corner of her mouth, down her jaw, and to her neck. Stopping to suck and nip at the spots she knew Paige liked.

Paige shook her head a little, "No." she said, but her voice betrayed her, the single word coming out a little shaky.

"Are you sure?" Emily whispered into Paige's ear after working her way up there with her lips, biting down on her earlobe before letting her tongue run over it soothingly.

When the woman didn't respond, Emily brought their lips back together, kissing Paige slowly and passionately. Once Paige gave in, hands tightening on her waist and kissing Emily back, Emily let her hands slide from around Paige's neck and down her sides. Emily let one of her hands wander towards Paige's backside, letting her thumb slip into the back pocket of Paige's shorts, her other hand sliding down her covered stomach slowly tugging at the fabric. Emily hooked her middle and index finger into the front of Paige's jean shorts once her hand made it there, smiling into the kiss when she felt Paige's body tense.

Paige jumped back before she got carried away, breathing heavily now. "Okay, that's…" She paused looking up at Emily to find her girlfriend smirking innocently with a raised eyebrow. Paige pointed at Emily, a disapproving look on her face, "that's unfair."

"What I'm not allowed to kiss my very sexy girlfriend." She offered seductively, moving to get closer to Paige but the brunette immediately put her hand up to stop the woman in her tracks.

"No, no." Paige said warningly, "You stay over there missy."

Emily let out a laugh, smiling brightly when Paige shot a charming smile of her own at her, "I love you." Emily said sincerely, the words slipping from her lips without much thought.

Paige shook her head, smile still firmly on her lips, "I love you too." She said, "But you need to behave yourself." She said pointing her finger at Emily sternly.

"And if I don't?" Emily challenged huskily, biting down on her lip as she eyed Paige and waited for a response, "What are you going to do? Punish me?"

"Jesus." Paige huffed out, "You are going to be the death of me."

Emily let out a genuine laugh again, "So about that proposal? And the whole persuasion thing?" Emily asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

Paige looked at the woman in front of her with nothing but love in her eyes. She would do anything for Emily and they both knew that. She would propose to Emily in a heartbeat and both of them knew that too but if Emily wanted to try to persuade her, well she wasn't going to complain or deny herself of that.

"Maybe tonight." Paige caved with a wink, turning and grabbing the bag she came for back up off the counter, "But right now I have a little girl waiting for me to deliver a very important bag of marshmallows to her."

"Well we better hurry then." Emily said, gesturing for Paige to lead the way, "We wouldn't want to keep her waiting."


End file.
